























Class. 

Book. 


TX7 


, S '7 ^ 7 I 




CofyiightN? 


COPVRIGHT DEPOSIT. 









*r 


~r\ 




T » 





v> ■. - tt I -'if# 
f . c ./'•' V>^; *. :V.: 






I'" ?>/•«/ ' ■'^0 >' ' ' 

'fi^r ■ ' ' .** ' 

■-, '• ,; ; '■ ' ■;wV'’v'%^ 

i-''/-' ’^li;’' A; '■ ,, '■ ■•; 


;§&•:'■'■ "i; '■• 




■ ^''- 1 |'■^■:'' '' ' ' 

- * ■ - “ '•T‘ J 






•.H ’ ■ 









j •« » • . . ' «* '.**f rJ/1 

*:''• >■ -'’Vi’.j/t'V 







^ •• 







' 1 I '■ ■■*} 

v'r • ;< 


■'"Vv 


1 




T 


'A >*' ^thXi rmam ^ , . .. <W 

(vH;*'*' . ^ ' "' 4 

'■i'lfh.i--.'"---' H' 




,• 



V 




*1 . 




f r- 


' •■' 1 

'y ■ M » .' . 


i • • '* 




y ' 





I 





l » . ifc ■■ ; 




.VT- 


t . / 




■' 

■ 7 ' ' ^ 




/ t 


» > 


U*W» S 


lA.*' ’ * / ' ' * ' 'i . ■ ^ 

■ " ■ ^.,'l'';>'' ' ' V' 












I 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


A STORY OF THE OREGON 
TRAIL 


MAKING OF OUR NATION SERIES 

BY WILLIAM C. SPRAGUE 

Editor of" The American Boy" 


THE BOY COURIER OF NAPOLEON 

A STORY OF THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE 
Illustrated by A, B. Shute 
Price, $1.50 

Mr. Sprague has given for the first time the history of 
the Louisiana Purchase in such entertaining story form that 
the reader forgets in his interest in the hero that he is read- 
ing history. The hero serves as a valet to Napoleon, and 
learns of the great events that are making history. Later 
he is sent with secret messages to the French in San Do- 
mingo and in Louisiana. 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 

A STORY OF THE OREGON TRAIL 
Illustrated by A. B. Shute 
Price, $1.50 

Mr. Sprague’s plan of bringing out important epochs in 
our country’s history by means of a series of well-told stories 
for boys has met with widespread approval. In this vol- 
ume he has as hero an actual character, George Shannon, 
a Pennsylvania lad, who at seventeen left school to become 
one of the Lewis and Clark expedition. 


LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 


BOSTON 


'■ S'3J' ' ■■ 

tirv. I' 

* Sfc 



' Vfr 

l<#*ir'^ V 



»» » : : 







iM- 


^ rT”^ * 




Tf 

. r * • 







^ </>% 






5a- ’J.y. 


F''.of iV^ ■' tijfF^.y 'O , 

*■ ■ -f f 





•;*i f- v 



'■ . - 1 .‘ V 


S^t !•». -i: *^^B[3rIfc^ifl21Dr 






P®' -■ '4 

; ■ '’Vy.t; 


C“’, 


j ‘<i f •’■■- 
rrv < 




< ♦ ♦ t^j. 


¥ 


A .^V i 




“ I have come to ask j^ou to take me with you, Captain Lewis.” 

Page 29. 


rtJa??tng of ®ur •Hatton Series 

1 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 

A STOEY OF THE OEEGON TRAIL 


BY 

WILLIAM C. SPRAGUE 

Editor of “ The American Boy,” Author of ” The Boy Courier 
of Napoleon,” etc. 


ILLUSTRATED B T A, B. SHUTS 



BOSTON 

LEE AND SHEPARD 


f 


r f 


oPiONiRFSSj 

iTwo Oor*’i»s rtocttvc*-) 

loa 7 

. .»Oi;>riKni- tJ‘irA! 

<21. "•-'.« 

// ? A/ f 

CUpv 




Published, August, 1905 

COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY LOTHROP, LEE AND SHEPARD COMPANY 
All rights reserved 
The Boy Pathfinder 





\ “ftorwooh Pre00 

**\ pERWICK AND SMITH CO. 
.,*** Norwood, Mass. 

U. S. A. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I 

A Dream op Conquest . 

CHAPTER II 

Meets Meriwether Lewis 

CHAPTER III 


Down the Ohio 


CHAPTER IV 

The Story of Vincennes 

CHAPTER V 

The Stars and Stripes Wave over a New Empire 

CHAPTER VI 

Up the Muddy Missouri 

CHAPTER VII 

Lost in the Wilderness 

CHAPTER VIII 

A Visit to the Sioux Indians 


PAGE 

1 


18 


35 


55 


69 


86 


104 


120 


V 


vi 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER IX 

PRijRiE Dogs— The Rickarees 

CHAPTER X 

A Buffalo Hunt . 

CHAPTER XI 

Winter among the Mandan Indians . • • . 

CHAPTER XII 

Grizzly Bears Dispute the Progress . , . . 

CHAPTER XIII 

“ The Shining Mountains ” and the Falls of the 
Missouri 

CHAPTER XIV 

The Long Portage— The King of White Bear 
Island— Wolves . 

CHAPTER XV 

Chief Cameahwait and the Shoshones 

CHAPTER XVI 

Sacajawea Finds Her People . . . . . 

CHAPTER XVII 


PAGE 

134 

151 

172 

191 

209 

221 

244 

264 


To THE Columbia and the Sea 


286 


ILLUSTKATIONS 


I have come to ask you to take me with you, Cap- 
tain Lewis ” iFrontupiece) 

Well done, lad I” cried the Captain 

A false stroke now meant the end of his hunting 
days 

He crept to the river’s edge and waded knee-deep 
into the stream 

<< Crack ! ” went Shannon’s pistol 

Bratton started on the dead run for the boats . . . 

The bear had risen on his hind legs 

He advanced, holding the articles out at arm’s length 



CHAPTER I 


A DREAM OF CONQUEST 

It was late in March of the year 1803. The sun 
was just setting behind the hills that skirted the 
eastern hanks of the Monongahela, now swollen 
out of its course by the melting snows from the 
mountains. A young hunter, with a rifle on his 
shoulder, was making his way down the slopes on 
the western side of the river by a bridle path that 
led to old Fort Pitt. When halfway down the 
hillside he stopped and gazed fixedly for some 
moments upon the turbid waters that rolled 
beneath him, as if in deep thought. 

The youth wore a coonskin cap, from under 
whose edges cropped a mass of curling black hair. 
His face was clean-shaven, firm, and handsome. 
His blue eyes were large, clear, and full of the fire 
of youth. His forehead was high and noble. He 
wore the costume of the frontier hunter of the 
period — a loose-fitting hunting shirt, buckskin 
trousers, leggings, and heavy boots. Suspended 
from his belt were powder horn and bullet pouch. 


2 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


while from his shoulders hung a brace of wild 
turkeys, the trophies of his chase. 

Though but seventeen years of age, he was 
broad-shouldered, full-chested, round and hard of 
limb — a young Goliath of the wilderness. That 
together with nobility of form and bearing went 
courage and strength of mind and heart was 
evidenced by the poise of his head and the clear 
blue of his eye. 

At his feet, looking up into his face, stood a 
large hound, whose quick breathing and lolling 
tongue betrayed the fact that his master had led 
him a pretty chase. 

The thoughts of the young man as he stood look- 
ing upon the river were far away. As he watched 
the broken and heaving surface of the ice floe 
borne down upon its bosom, he was wishing that 
he, too, were a part of its moving spirit bound for 
the Ohio and thence west into the unknown wilder- 
ness. Often he had stood thus upon the banks of 
the Monongahela where its sister current, the 
Allegheny, contributes its flood to form the great 
Ohio and longed to follow their united fortunes. 
On such occasions, he looked forward with eager 
anticipation to the time when, full master of him- 
self, he might launch a canoe upon the broad river 


A DREAM OF CONQUEST 


3 


and ride with it into that land of mystery of which 
the daring pioneers had brought back marvelous 
reports. 

To-day his heart heat high with exultation. His 
school days were nearly over. Already he was 
beginning to snift the air of freedom. A con- 
sciousness that he was strong fired his spirit with 
an unquenchable purpose. It was a moment of 
inspiration with him such as only young men of 
high courage and high purpose can know, as, paus- 
ing suddenly in his path, he looked down upon the 
river that typified so nearly his restless, ambi- 
tious, aspiring spirit. 

A moment later his eye, keen for the hunt, 
sighted a stag standing knee-deep in the water at 
the river ^s edge. His rifle came quickly to his 
shoulder, and a report rang out over the valley. 
Peering through the smoke that arose from his 
weapon, the youth saw the stag hound away un- 
hurt into the bushes that lined the bank and heard 
from the hillside above him a loud laugh. 

Oho, George Shannon, it is well your father 
did not see that shot. ^ ’ 

The next moment there stepped from out the 
shadows of the trees a rough, full-bearded man, 
whose bronzed, wrinkled face and tangled, gray 


4 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


hair, which fell far down over his shoulders, gave 
evidence of advanced age. 

‘‘ Ah, Simon Drake, it is you,’’ replied the boy. 

My foot slipped upon a stone as I fired or that 
stag were mine. ’ ’ 

’Twas not like your father to make excuse,” 
answered the old ranger. You should have 
been sure of your footing first. Haste makes 
waste with the hunter; forget not that. But 
surely you will not let the stag escape you. See, 
our dogs have driven him ’round the hill yonder. 
He will go up yon ravine. Come, let’s follow, 
and the prize be to the man who first wings 
him. ’ ’ 

A hurried scramble through the underbrush and 
the two soon reached the summit of the ridge and 
gained a point near where sooner or later the stag 
must pass. A few breathless moments and, push- 
ing through the small timber and followed by the 
yelping dogs, the stag reached the bottom of the 
ravine, with a nimble leap sprang over a swollen 
rivulet, and made for the hills upon the opposite 
side. At the same moment, almost, the crack of 
two rifles bit the air; the stag bounded, fell to his 
knees, rose again, and then dropped lifeless at the 
base of a great rock. 


A DREAM OF CONQUEST 


5 


Twas your shot that did it,” cried the old 
man, pressing forward. I aimed too high. The 
prize is yours.” 

Shannon grasped the old man’s hand. Not 
so, Simon Drake. That trusty rifle of yours ne ’er 
played you false. ’Twas your shot that killed the 
stag. He ’s none of mine. ’ ’ 

Well, we’ll not quarrel over the matter. It’s 
enough that the stag is dead. We’ll share the 
spoils.” 

‘ ^ Give me the antlers, ’ ’ said the boy, ^ ‘ and you 
may have hide and meat. I have wanted such 
antlers as these. They shall be a present to the 
schoolmaster. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Then you are at school I How comes it so far 
away from home ? Are there not schools in Ohio ? 
Is learning so scarce there that boys must travel 
thus far to find it ? ” 

My mother wanted me to go to college,” 
answered Shannon. There was no school in 
Ohio near home that could prepare me, so she sent 
me here to Pittsburg. A few more months and I 
am through, but as for college, that cannot be until 
I earn the money.” 

‘‘You speak of your mother; and what of your 
father? ” 


6 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


He is dead, Simon Drake, — last winter he 
went hunting, was lost in the forest, and when 
found was dead — frozen to death.’’ 

Your father dead? My old friend and com- 
rade dead? Why, we fought together at York- 
town. We lay nights under the same blanket. 
We ate in the same mess. We shot redcoats 
shoulder to shoulder. Ah, my mind goes back to 
those days. Many is the time, too, that I have 
eaten a meal at your home in the Ohio woods and 
no better meal did man ever eat. I used to see 
you as a little boy, strong of muscle and generous 
of spirit even then, just as you look to be now. I 
knew your face the moment I saw it, as, standing 
yonder on the hillside, you looked down on the 
river. You are the picture of that father. And 
that mother of yours, how is she? I can under- 
stand now how you are here at school in Pennsyl- 
vania. No woman ever had higher ambitions for 
her children. E’en now I can believe that every 
penny saved in that frugal cabin goes to furnish 
your head with knowledge. Is it not so? ” 

With shame I confess it, Simon Drake. I 
know what my father was. We have his old mus- 
ket at home and I have sworn by it to be worthy 
of him. I know the sort of a woman my mother is. 


A DBF AM OF CONQUEST 


7 


It grieves me to think that I, a great, sturdy lad, 
should be idling away my time getting book knowl- 
edge when she and my brothers and sisters are 
suffering — I know they are — for the necessities 
of life. I was thinking, as I looked down into the 
water yonder, that there must come an end to this ; 
that I must be a man and cease to be a boy ; that I 
must go out into the world and make my own way. 
My mother shall no longer drudge for me. I want 
to go into the Mississippi country. I want to be- 
come a trapper and a trader. In a few years I 
could make enough money so that I could return to 
Ohio and bring comfort to my people and then, 
perhaps — for an education. ^ ’ 

“ Your heart is all right, my lad. YouVe got 
the stuff in you. But you will do nothing to dis- 
appoint that mother of yours. Be sure first that 
you are right before you drop your studies.’^ 

^ ^ That I will, Simon Drake. I shall write home 
to my mother to-night and ask her to let me go out 
into the mountains or down the river. Let me 
have freedom for two years and I will show her 
and all the world that I will not abuse it. It will 
be weeks before I will get her reply. In the mean- 
time, perhaps you will help me to lay my plans. 
You know the West as few men know it.’’ 


8 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Where would you goV^ asked Drake, as if to 
test the boy. 

Anywhere that there is honest work to do to 
earn money. ’ ’ 

Drake was silent for some moments. Then he 
asked, Have you heard of President Jefferson’s 
new scheme ? ’ ’ 

You mean the purchase of Louisiana from the 
French? ” 

No, but something as important and surely as 
necessary, if Louisiana is really to become ours. 
It is this : Perhaps I should not tell it to you, as 
I have received the information in confidence ; but 
you will bear trusting. President Jefferson has 
sent to Congress a message asking for twenty-five 
hundred dollars to pay the expenses of an explor- 
ing expedition into the country west of the Mis- 
sissippi. ’ ’ 

Shannon’s eyes shot fire. “ And who is to go on 
this expedition? Where will they get the men? ” 

‘‘Wait and I will tell you. This project means 
that a company of the bravest and hardiest Amer- 
icans, under the leadership of some skilled com- 
mander, shall bid good-bye to civilization for 
months, perhaps years, of dangerous travel into 
the heart of the American wilderness. They must 


9 


A I)II£;A3I of conquest 

pass through unknown rivers, over trackless plains 
and snow-covered mountains, among savage beasts 
and still more savage people, until they reach the 
great ocean. They may never see home again. If, 
perchance, they escape death by starvation, they 
may meet it by wild animals or by disease or by 
the poisoned arrows of hostile Indians. There is 
no one to show them the way — ^no guides that have 
ever been over the track — no one to tell them 
where are the wild beasts and the wilder men — 
where they may find water to drink or food to eat. 
It means death 

‘‘And glory!’’ cried Shannon, swinging his 
coonskin cap above his head. “ Oh, that I might 
be one of those men! Why can’t I, Simon Drake? 
I am young and strong. I’ve never known an hour 
of sickness. I can shoot, I can swim, I can go 
without eating. Many is the time I have hunted 
for days in the woods around my Ohio home with- 
out a mouthful to eat. See, I have tramped all day 
and I am not weary. President J efiFerson will need 
young men for this thing. I am going, Simon 
Drake. I’ll be one of that company.” 

The boy threw back his head, brushed the curls 
from his forehead, replaced his cap, and shoulder- 
ing his rifle, made as if to start away. 


10 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Not so fast, Shannon. Where will yon go? ” 

The boy stopped, abashed. 

‘‘You will help me, Simon Drake, he said, al- 
most pleadingly. “ Tell me where to find out 
about this.^^ 

“ First, let us cut up this deer; then, as I am 
going to Fort Pitt, we will walk along together and 
I will tell you more. ’ ^ 

Soon the old hunter, by the aid of his long, keen 
knife, had the choice pieces of the flesh in his game 
pouch, and the two. Shannon carrying the broad, 
spreading antlers, took their way along the banks 
of the river toward the settlement. 

“ What I am about to tell you,’^ said Drake, 
when they were fairly started, “ is for your ears 
only. This project of President Jefferson is not 
to become publicly known.’’ 

‘ ‘ Why not ? ’ ’ asked Shannon, in some surprise. 

“ The reason is simple enough,” answered the 
other. ‘ ‘ All that part of the Continent west of the 
Mississippi to-day belongs to Spain, unless, as 
rumor has it, the wily Napoleon has really bought 
it back for France, whose once it was. There are 
those who say a deal has been made between Spain 
and France, but that Napoleon is keeping it quiet 
because he is afraid that England, with whom he 


A DREAM OF CONQUEST 11 

is not on good terms, may swoop down on it from 
her Canadian forts and take it away from him. 
Napoleon knows very well, too, that the United 
States would not rest satisfied to have so formida- 
ble a neighbor on her western borders as France, 
with a Napoleon in the saddle. 

You know, doubtless, that President Jefferson 
recently sent Robert Livingston and James Mon- 
roe to Paris to find out the truth about these ru- 
mors. He authorized Monroe and Livingston to 
purchase New Orleans, if Napoleon had it for sale, 
in order to open up the Mississippi to American 
trade. There is a rumor that Monroe and Living- 
ston have bought, not only New Orleans, but all 
the territory of Louisiana, which means that the 
boundaries of the United States have been shoved 
back from the great river, the Mississippi, to the 
ocean. 

At the moment when Jefferson made the prop- 
osition to Congress to send an expedition to ex- 
plore the great West of which I spoke a while ago, 
that portion of the Continent did not belong to us. 
You can understand, therefore, why such a project 
must be carried on in secret. Even now it is not 
positively known who are the owners of the Loui- 
siana Territory. There is only one thing sure, and 


12 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


that is the Spanish flag is floating at St. Louis and 
New Orleans. And so long as that flag floats there^ 
no American military expedition such as that pro- 
posed, will be permitted to cross the Mississippi. 
For President Jefferson to send men into that 
country would be like his sending an expedition 
with guns and ammunition into Spain itself, and 
that, you will understand, the Spaniards would not 
permit for one moment. No more will they per- 
mit it in the case of their territory in North Amer- 
ica, unless it is evident that the expedition is bound 
on some peaceful errand, as for scientific research 
and study ; and that is the very pretense on which 
Jefferson is sending it out. But all the time, my 
lad, Jefferson and all far-sighted statesmen in 
America know that the time must come when the 
boundless territory to the west of us is ours. Jef- 
ferson is only taking time by the forelock.’^ 

‘‘ But,’’ said Shannon impatiently, who is to 
do it? Who is to win this country for our flag? 
Why cannot I be one of the men to do it? ” 

You will promise secrecy, then? ” 

I will promise anything, everything, if you 
will but tell me where I may go for permission to 
be one of this expedition. ’ ’ 

‘‘ Listen. You have heard of General George 


A DBFA3I OF CONQUEST 13 

Rogers Clark, the Washington of the West, that 
brave soldier who, with a few hundred daring 
Americans, captured Vincennes from the British; 
built forts throughout our Western country, in 
Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois; protected our set- 
tlers and kept the British and Indians at bay. You 
may not know his brother, William Clark, a lieu- 
tenant in the regular army and the hero of many 
a fight. William Clark is to be one of the leaders, 
but there is another, and he no less a personage 
than Meriwether Lewis, President Jefferson’s 
private secretary, an army officer of experience 
and courage. Meriwether Lewis and William 
Clark are to command it. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Meriwether Lewis ! ’ ’ exclaimed Shannon. 

I know him. I met him here at the time of the 
whisky rebellion.” 

The boy’s face shone with joy, for the informa- 
tion opened to him visions of a chance by which 
he might realize his hopes. 

‘ ^ And how did you learn all this ! ’ ’ inquired the 
boy eagerly. 

‘‘ I was about to tell you that a short time ago I 
received a message from Captain Lewis, asking me 
to join the expedition.” 

^ ^ And you said yes ? ’ ’ 


14 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


No, I begged off. I am too old. A year ago 
the rheumatism got hold of my leg, and I am done 
for, so far as roughing it is concerned. You have 
no idea how hard it goes for me to say no. ^ ^ 

Yes, I have,^^ cried Shannon. I would go if 
I had no legs at all. Will you not write for me to 
Captain Lewis and tell him that you have a sub- 
stitute ! Tell him how I want to go. Tell him what 
you have just said about my father and my mother. 
Tell him that I will do anything ; that no hardship 
will be too great; no sacrifice too severe for me. 
Tell him that I am not married, that no one de- 
pends on me, that I am young, and that I am 
strong. Do this for me, Simon Drake, and I will 
pray your name every night. ^ ^ 

Drake looked long and earnestly at the lad; he 
measured him from the top of his head to the soles 
of his feet ; his eye swept the breadth of his shoul- 
ders and caught the healthy glow of color in his 
cheeks and the resolute look in his eye. 

‘‘ You’ll do. Shannon. You’re just the boy. It 
is of such stuff that heroes are made. Would God 
I were as young and strong as you! You needn’t 
pray for me. I’m not worth it. I ’ll get pay enough 
in thinking there is one in my place who will do 
honor to his country in every emergency. I’ll do 


A DBF AM OF CONQUEST 


15 


what I can for you, my lad, though that may not 
be much. Perhaps Captain Lewis has already se- 
lected his men. The number is to be limited, he 
told me, and only the bravest and best can go. He 
is selecting them from our border forts and from 
among the hardiest and most trustworthy of our 
frontier soldiers ; but he will need hunters, inter- 
preters, and guides. You can hunt, and perhaps 
your schooling will not come amiss, for Jeiferson 
has commanded that the expedition shall study the 
people, the plant and the animal life, the geography 
of the country, and bring back complete informa- 
tion of everything seen. Captain Lewis writes me 
that after President Jeiferson intrusted the com- 
mand to him, he wrote to his friend, William Clark, 
of whom I spoke, who is now in Kentucky, to join 
him in the command of the expedition, and that 
then he ran up to Philadelphia from Washington 
and took a two months ’ scientific course to fit him- 
self for the work. You see, my boy, it will be no 
child’s play.” 

It will be grand! ” cried Shannon. Every 
word you tell me fires me with a stronger purpose 
to go. I must go, Simon Drake, and if it were to- 
day I would leave school at once.” 

But your mother ” 


16 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


She would not — she could not object. There 
would be no time to hear from her. The mail 
travels too slowly. Why cannot I be off to Wash- 
ington this very night ? ^ ’ 

‘‘ What, alone? And do you know the way? 
Have you the money? 

The boy’s eyes drooped, and a perplexed expres- 
sion crossed his face. 

No, you need not go to Washington. Captain 
Lewis himself will be in Pittsburg soon,” con- 
tinued Drake reassuringly. 

Captain Lewis in Pittsburg? Perhaps he 
is there now. Suppose I should miss him? ” An 
anxious look came into the boy’s face. 

No, not yet. Pittsburg is a long way from 
Washington. It will be several weeks yet before 
he is here. He proposes to buy some of his sup- 
plies and recruit some of his men here. Then, too, 
he will have to build a boat to take him and his 
stuff down the Ohio to St. Louis. I shall be in 
Pittsburg when he arrives, and I will see that you 
meet him. ’ ’ 

Shannon took the old ranger’s hand in his. 

Simon Drake, you have done me the greatest 
favor ever one man did another. I feel that I shall 
go ; that the dream of my life is about to be real- 


A DREAM OF CONQUEST 


17 


ized. I had longed for the West, but never did I 
think it would be as a bearer of the flag, with a 
commission from the great Jefferson to conquer 
an unknown land. Simon Drake, no hoy ever had 
my heart and my ambition, and no hoy will ever 
work harder to prove himself worthy of trust. ^ ^ 
The man and the boy had reached the Pittsburg 
settlement, and on its outskirts they parted com- 
pany : the man to seek his cabin home, the boy to 
find his school, where books and tutor were no 
longer to be his masters, but where dreams of con- 
quest filled up the days, the hours, and the minutes 
of his life, until Meriwether Lewis, with the com- 
mission of President Jefferson in his saddle-bag, 
reached Pittsburg. 


CHAPTER II 


MEETS MERIWETHER LEWIS 

On the morning of July 5, 1803, there walked 
out of the White House in Washington a young 
military officer, aged twenty-eight, clothed in a 
brand-new uniform, wearing on his head a three- 
cornered chapeau, and carrying at his side a new 
sword whose hilt was burnished so that it glistened 
in the sunlight. He had just shaken hands with 
President Jefferson and received from him a 
commission, the importance of which neither the 
President nor he himself then fully appreciated. 
Along with this commission in his pocket lay folded 
a letter of credit by which this young officer was 
empowered to borrow for his needs on the credit 
of the President of the United States, and to an 
amount without limit. 

The young man was Meriwether Lewis, slim, but 
well built, erect and trim, to whom President Jef- 
ferson had just intrusted the carrying out of no 
less a design than the exploration of the unknown 
18 


MEETS MERIWETHER LEWIS 


19 


West, even so far as the shining mountains ’ ^ and 
the ocean beyond. No young man had ever before 
gone forth on a more important mission nor one 
fraught with greater hardships and dangers. 

Jetferson knew the man he was trusting. For 
two years Meriwether Lewis had been his private 
secretary. Together they had lived so intimately 
that every fiber of the younger man had been tested 
and tried out by the older. Jefferson, too, knew 
the breed of the young man, for the Jeffersons and 
Lewises had been neighbors in Albemarle County, 
Virginia. 

August 18j 1774, in the little village of Char- 
lottesville, Va., Meriwether Lewis first saw the 
light. He was of no mean parentage. His ances- 
tors had taken a prominent part in the affairs of 
the colony and had proved themselves to be of that 
stock of sincere, honest men and women that made 
Virginia the earliest battleground of freedom. His 
father died while he was yet a child, and the hoy 
then lived in the household of an uncle who him- 
self had been a fighter, and, when Meriwether was 
but two years old, commanded a regiment in a war 
with the Cherokees. 

Wlien eight years old the boy Meriwether, named 
for his mother’s family, was a hunter, and from 


20 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


then on until fourteen years of age, when he was 
sent away to school, he roamed the forests and 
haunted the streams about his home, bringing in 
all kinds of game as the result of his skill and 
bravery. From fourteen to nineteen he attended 
a Latin school, and from nineteen to twenty-one 
managed his mother’s farm and became a student 
of nature — something that was to serve him in the 
great work of his after life. 

In 1794 the whisky distillers in western Penn- 
sylvania banded together against the Government 
and refused to pay the tax imposed upon them by 
Congress. George Washington, then President of 
the United States, promptly ordered the militia of 
Ne w J er sey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia 
to go against them. Meriwether Lewis enlisted as 
a private and marched with his countrymen to put 
down the rebellion, which had risen to such im- 
portance that the rebels, seven thousand in num- 
ber, were burning buildings, rifling the mails, and 
insulting and abusing the Government officers. The 
conflict was shoi4, and at its close Meriwether 
Lewis was an ensign in the first regiment of in- 
fantry. Soon he rose to the rank of first lieuten- 
ant, and then, in 1797, to that of captain. Later, 
under Mad Anthony ” Wayne, he served in that 


MEETS MERIWETHER LEWIS 


21 


general ’s campaigns against the Indians, and still 
later in Guion’s expedition against the Spanish 
forts in Mississippi. 

It was in the spring of 1801 that Thomas Jeffer- 
son, having been elevated to the Presidency of the 
Kepublic which he himself had done so much to 
found and fashion, looked about him for one who 
could serve him as a secretary. Who could be bet- 
ter fitted, he said, than Meriwether Lewis, the 
handsome, brave, distinguished young soldier, with 
an unbroken record of fidelity to duty and with the 
heroic blood of the best families of Virginia flow- 
ing through his veins ? So it was that he wrote to 
Lewis, offering him the position, saying: The 

salary is but five hundred dollars, scarcely more 
than an equivalent for your pay and rations in the 
army ; but it is an easier office and would give you 
an opportunity to meet distinguished people, and 
you can board and lodge with the President's fam- 
ily, free of charge.” 

At once Lewis wrote from Pittsburg, accepting 
the position. And now, after two years of inti- 
mate acquaintance with him as a member of his* 
own family, Jefferson appointed him to lead the 
important expedition that lay so near to his heart. 

All the preliminary arrangements having been 


22 


TEE BOY PATEFINDEB 


made, two months having been spent by the young 
leader in Philadelphia in obtaining scientific in- 
struction in matters that it would become his duty 
to observe and describe, and presents for the In- 
dians, astronomical instruments, tents, and other 
equipments having been purchased. Captain Lewis 
was ready for the start. 

A few days before he left Washington he had 
written to his mother, bidding her good-bye, saying 
that his absence would probably be for no longer 
than fifteen or eighteen months, and calming her 
fears for his safety by speaking of his abundant 
health and strength, and of the peaceable temper 
of the peoples through whose country he was to 
journey. Little did he know how far his prophecy 
was at fault. But whether or not he knew and ap- 
preciated the dangers of the expedition, his letter, 
breathing affection for his mother and regard for 
her fears, did credit to his heart. 

W^ are told that Dolly Madison, who at that time 
presided over the President's household, contrib- 
uted, with her own needle, to the outfit of the gal- 
^lant young explorer; Eapin, the White House 
steward, helped him pack his belongings ; Gallatin, 
a member of Jefferson’s cabinet, contributed maps, 
and James Madison, Secretary of State, and aft- 


MEETS MERIWETHER LEWIS 23 , 

erwards President of the United States, bade the 
young man an affectionate adieu. 

Such was the auspicious beginning of the Lewis 
and Clark Expedition that was to bring one-half 
of the Continent into intimate touch and relation 
with the^therLjialf, and to open to the New Ee- 
public a view of its vast domains that should cause 
it to wonder and applaud. 

A few hours after Meriwether Lewis walked out 
of the White House doors and turned his face to 
the West, he was at Harper’s Ferry on the Po- 
tomac, where awaited him wagoners driving their 
ponderous Pennsylvania wagons laden with the 
purchases he had made in Philadelphia. 

With shouts and a cracking of whips, the party 
started upon the long trail over the mountains to 
the little village' of Pittsburg, at the headwaters 
of the Ohio, probably by the same route that an- 
other young man, George Washington by name, 
had traversed, when he went with Braddock to 
meet defeat at the hands of the French and the 
Indians at old Fort Duquesne, then, in 1803, a 
crumbling ruin over which the village of Pitts- 
burg was to grow into a great city. Certain it was 
that over this same trail old Daniel Boone had 
traveled from his home in North Carolina to seek 


24 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


out the hiding places of the panther, the bear, and 
the wolf in Kentucky. That had been thirty-four 
years before ; and since that time hundreds of dar- 
ing men inured to hardship and privation had fol- 
lowed over this same track, longing for the solitude 
and the grandeur of the wilderness. 

Captain Lewis had, previous to his starting, sent 
messages to the frontier forts calling for men to 
the number allowed him by Congress, and instruct- 
ing them to make ready to join him on his arrival. 
Among those to whom he had written was the 
friend of his youth, William Clark, then at his 
home at the falls of the Ohio, near Louisville, car- 
ing for his brother. General George Eogers Clark, 
who, after a life of splendid service to his country, 
was living a disappointed old age upon the banks 
of the noble river he had fought to win for the 
American pioneer. 

At Carlisle and Fort Pitt, in Pennsylvania, were 
others who received the welcome message, and at 
Louisville and Kaskaskia were still others. Every- 
where the invitation to join the hazardous enter- 
prise was received with joy; men waited for Lewis’ 
coming with eager impatience, that they might 
offer themselves for the undertaking. 

These were the days of heroic daring. Men 


MEETS MERIWETHER LEWIS 25 

loved danger, and courted it. Most of the pioneers 
were born amid it and breathed its air with every 
inspiration of their infant life. Children learned 
to use firearms while scarcely able to carry the 
stocks to their shoulders. Women handled the 
musket as they handled the broom and the distatf . 
Boys became hunters before they knew their al- 
phabet, and to bring down a bear or an Indian with 
a rifle shot was their first ambition. Men lived in 
the forests. Civilization was distasteful to them. 
With the coming of neighbors they sold or gave 
away their cabins and moved farther on. They 
must be free — free to come and go, free to kill or 
be killed, free to cut down the forests, or dam the 
streams, free to hunt what and where they liked, 
free to make their own laws, and to execute them. 

But bravery was not the only thing that Meri- 
wether Lewis sought in his men. President Jeffer- 
son had said to him : ‘ ^ The men must have cour- 
age undaunted, firmness and perseverance of pur- 
pose which nothing but impossibilities can divert, 
an intimate knowledge of the Indian character, 
customs, and principles, experience with hunting 
life, honesty, sound understanding, fidelity to 
truth; the officers must be careful as a father to 
those committed to their charge, but steady in the 


26 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


maintenance of order and discipline. They must 
be able to make exact observations of vegetable 
and animal life, and must be able to describe what 
they see.^’ 

Not all the brave men of the frontier could meet 
these requirements. So it was that Captain Lewis 
selected most of his men in advance, either from 
a personal knowledge of them gained in his expe- 
rience as a soldier on the frontier, or from their 
reputations. 

In a few weeks Meriwether Lewis and his travel- 
begrimed wagoners entered the village of Pitts- 
burg at the confluence of the Monongahela and 
the Allegheny. Lewis was no stranger there, for 
in the campaign against the whisky insurgents he 
had wintered at Fort Pitt, and there and then it 
was that George Shannon met the young officer and 
immediately made him his ideal of all that was 
true and manly. 

At Pittsburg Captain Lewis at once set about 
making his preparations for the long river voyage 
down the Ohio to St. Louis. There were supplies 
and stores to be collected, ammunition to be bought, 
and a boat to be built. There were boatmen and 
river guides to be employed and, most important 
of all, there was to be selected the first installment 


MEET 8 MERIWETHER LEWIS 27 

of the band of men who were to conquer the Con- 
tinent. 

With characteristic energy Captain Lewis went 
about his work, instilling his spirit into his men, 
and, in an incredibly short time, collecting the 
necessary equipment for the voyage. The building 
of the boat, however, was something he could not 
hurry. The rivermen were drunkards, working 
one day and carousing the next. He scolded and 
pleaded, but to no purpose. With his own hands 
he wielded the axe and the saw, and with his own 
arms lifted the timbers to their place. There were 
other boats building along the river front. These 
were for the pioneers going down the river to seek 
new homes, or for the river traders carrying the 
articles of civilized life to the Western communi- 
ties, there to be exchanged for the trappers^ furs 
— all eager to be off with the first freshet that 
should send the current high over the shoals and 
insure a speedy voyage. 

Lewis had money to spend, but it was not his 
own. It was the money of his country, intrusted 
to his care, and he must be frugal. How little it 
seems to us nowadays, when Congress appropri- 
ates millions to dredge out a harbor or straighten 
a river’s course ! Two thousand five hundred dol- 


28 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


lars for the exploration of a continent! Trne, 
Captain Lewis had a letter of credit on which, in 
case of need, he might draw, but in that wilderness 
to which he was going who was there to honor it ? 

One day, some time after Captain Lewis ^ ar- 
rival, as he was standing on the river bank watch- 
ing the operations of the rivermen, and bargaining 
with a contractor for men to finish his boat, a 
young man approached him with a hurried stride 
and, stopping a few paces otf, doffed his cap. 
Lewis looked at him twice and then extended his 
hand. 

‘‘ George Shannon, I’m glad to see you.” 

“ You know me, then. Captain Lewis.” A glad 
smile went over the hoy’s face. I did not expect 
that you would remember me. Much has hap- 
pened with you since we met the winter of the 
whisky war.” 

Yes, and how about you. Shannon! Are you 
still at school! ” 

Still at school,” echoed the boy; but with 
your permission I shall quit. I want to go with 
you. Captain Lewis, into the West.” 

Lewis looked his surprise. Then he excused 
himself from the contractor, and taking the boy’s 
arm led him aside a few paces. 


MEETS MERTWETHETl LEWIS 29 

Wlio told yon that I was going into the 
West! ’’ 

Simon Drake.” 

And is this the way Drake keeps a secret! 
Did he tell you the object of the trip! ” 

Yes, under a promise that I would not divulge 
it, and I have kept my promise. I have come to 
ask you to take me with you. Captain Lewis.” 

You go? I do not see how I can permit it, 
Shannon. You are too young. We need men, not 
boys;” then, seeing a cloud pass over the boy^s 
face, he added: What can you do? ” 

I can do anything that a man can do. I will 
do anything for you — if need be, I will go to the 
ends of the earth.” 

But I cannot take every one. Shannon. 
Every man who goes must be a picked man. ’ ^ 

What qualities do you need. Captain? ” asked 
Shannon. 

Grit that never says die, for one thing.” 

‘‘ No man ever called George Shannon a cow- 
ard,” the boy replied stoutly. I^m afraid of 
nothing. I will give you the evidence of it. On 
the trip down the river, put me at the hardest tasks. 
If there is fighting to do, put me in the front rank. 
If by the time you reach St. Louis I have not 


30 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


proven myself brave enough, turn me off. Give 
me a trial, Captain Lewis. The boy’s manner 
betrayed an earnestness that bade fair to carry 
everything before it. 

I need men who understand the Indians, men 
who know when and how to shoot — prudent 
men. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ And you need hunters, too. Captain — men who 
know the woods and can bring in the game. I am 
a hunter. My whole life has been a forest life save 
these last few years in school, and,” this he said 
with a laugh, ^ ‘ it is a question whether even here 
I have not played the hunter more than the stu- 
dent.” 

It is true. Shannon, we shall need hunters, but 
I expect to find them farther West. I need boat- 
men here and soldiers. My guides and hunters I 
can pick up at St. Louis.” 

^ ‘ But I can manage a boat, ’ ’ the young man re- 
plied. I have not lived these years on the 
Monongahela without learning to swing an oar. 
Feel that arm. Do you not think it capable of 
pulling a stroke! You will need strong oarsmen, 
too, and I am all of that. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ But what of your mother. Shannon ? You used 
to tell me that she had often said she was willing 


MEET8 MERIWETHER LEWIS 31 

to eat hoe-cake to the end of her days, if necessary, 
to give her children an education. ’ ’ 

I have already written her,’’ the boy replied, 
but I cannot receive an answer in time. She 
wants me to go to college in Massachusetts when I 
have finished here. But how can I go ? She has no 
money, nor have I — barely enough to keep soul and 
body together. Simon Drake tells me that your 
men will receive pay; that when they reach home 
the Government will richly reward them. When 
I return I can use the money the Government 
gives me and go to college. The money my mother 
is now sending me she can keep for herself and for 
my brothers and sisters. She will not refuse ; she 
cannot. Think of the glory of it. Captain Lewis. 
Will not that appeal to her! What mother is there 
who would not be proud to have her son enlist in 
such a cause under such a leader as you ! ’ ’ 

Very well,” replied Lewis, smiling. Go 
back to your studies, talk with the schoolmaster, 
think the matter all over again, and come to me in 
a week’s time. Eemember, you must be prepared 
for unknown dangers. You must be willing to take 
your life in your hand and sacrifice it, if need be, 
to the success of our cause. I must now go and see 
to my boat. It is hard getting work done here at 


32 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


this time of the year. The boatmen are all busy — 
all of them who are sober.’’ 

At these words of Captain Lewis, Shannon’s 
face flushed with joy. He knew he had triumphed ; 
that he was to be one of the picked men ; that he 
was going into the West — the West that meant so 
much and yet so little to even the most knowing of 
the pioneers of those days. 

Filled with high anticipations, his heart bound- 
ing with exultant blood, the boy made his way hur- 
riedly to the long, low building in the outskirts of 
the village where the principal of the Latin school 
— the best in all western Pennsylvania— held sway. 
Directly he found the master, a long, lean, angular 
Yankee, who had emigrated years before with his 
gaunt form and his few books into the untutored 
West to set up a school Of such as he it was that 
Goldsmith wrote; 

“ Yet he was kind; or, if severe in aught, 

The love he bore to learning was in fault. 

The village all declared how much he knew ; 

’Twas certain he could write and cipher too,” 

But this master could do more than write and 
cipher ; he could read Latin, and this distinguished 
his school over all its humble contemporaries ; for 
it prepared for college. What mattered it if his 


MEETS MERIWETHER LEWIS 


33 


figure was awkward, his garments badly shaped, 
his manners ungainly; he could read Latin. This 
particular master was a Yankee, and distinguished 
by the peculiarities of that people. He had ap- 
peared in the Pittsburg settlement with a letter of 
introduction and without money ; but he could read 
Latin, and that was enough. 

The men and women of that day were not unlike 
those of the present. They wished their children 
to know more than they themselves did, and so it 
was that men who knew little more than how to 
handle the rifle, and women who knew little more 
than how to use the spinning-wheel, toiled and 
saved, that their boys might go to the Latin 
school, 

With a boldness born of anticipated freedom 
George Shannon went directly to the master and 
told him his plans. His advice he did not ask, for 
he had fully made up his own mind. 

The master was shrewd. He knew well that 
with this boy, whose proud spirit he had come to 
know, decisions were made for keeps. Eegrets he 
felt that George Shannon must be lost to him, but 
he kept these within his breast, and set about at 
once airing his knowledge of the Great West of 
which all but he, the schoolmaster, were ignorant. 


34 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


He brought out a well-thumbed map and discoursed 
for hours, while his pupil sat open-eyed and 
open-mouthed, listening to the wonderful stories of 
the great river that flowed through the heart of the 
Continent. What the schoolmaster did not know 
about former attempts to explore the country be- 
yond the Mississippi was not to be known. He was 
familiar with all the history, written, or spoken, 
that related to Western discovery. In glowing 
terms he told of Balboa ’s first view of the Pacific ; 
of Cartier’s exploration of the St. Lawrence ; of the 
wanderings of De Soto, and his conquest of the 
great river beneath whose surface his body found 
its last resting-place ; of the work of La Salle and 
Cadillac and Marquette and Hennepin. 

This but fired the spirit of the boy and filled his 
succeeding days and nights with visions of glory. 
Already he saw himself crowned with the laurels 
of conquest and named among the pathfinders of 
the wilderness beyond the Mississippi. 


CHAPTER III 

DOWN THE OHIO 

The boat that was to convey Captain Lewis, his 
provisions and baggage, and the few men recruited 
from the Government fort at Carlisle to St. Louis 
was finally ready. Several days were spent in 
loading. Then, on the morning of August 31st, at 
four o’clock, the captain gave the order to shove 
off, and the oars sank into the water for the first 
pull of the near one thousand miles down the Ohio 
to St. Louis. 

As the prow caught the current Captain Lewis 
stood in the bow of his boat, glad that now the 
labors of the first stage of his journey were over 
and he was at last upon the bosom of the great 
current that should bear him to the very doorway 
of the unexplored West. 

At the helm, at the bow, and at the oars were 
strong men like himself, fired with a zeal that was 
to know no discouragement and no defeat. There 
were John Collins, George Gibson, Hugh McNeal, 

35 


36 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


John Potts, and Peter Wiser, all Pennsylvanians 
except the first named, who was of Maryland — 
recruits who had been ordered to join Lewis from 
Carlisle. Youngest of the company was another, 
the Ohio boy, George Shannon, who the evening 
before had bade good-bye to the master of the 
Latin school and to his comrades, and with a glad 
heart had turned his steps toward the river. Bare- 
headed, his curls floating in the breeze that blew 
from down the stream, he bent to his oar with the 
rest, his heart beating fast with the joy of antici- 
pated achievement. 

When the boat reached the middle of the mighty 
current it sped swiftly along, with an expert river- 
man at the helm guiding its prow out of the shal- 
lows, and away from floating logs and obstructions 
brought down by the mountain currents. 

Buoyant and determined, the rowers kept on day 
after day. No signs of life greeted their eyes save 
flocks of wild geese that, startled on their ap- 
proach, flew away to safety; the occasional flash 
of light from the silvery sides of fish leaping from 
the water; the swoop of some great bird that cir- 
cled about them as if curious at the strange sight ; 
a tiny wreath of smoke from a settler’s cabin, hid- 
den among the trees upon the banks; or a canoe, 



“ Well done, lad ! ” cried the captain. — Page 37 . ' 





DOWN TEE OHIO 


37 


skirting the shores, half defiant, half timid-like, 
carrying a solitary Indian. 

George Shannon, true to the instincts of the 
hunter, when not on duty at the oars, stood for 
hours in the prow of the boat, ofttimes beside his 
captain, watching for the wild game that came 
within the reach of his trusty rifle. Once an eagle 
swooped down upon the river and bore a fish away 
in its beak. 

‘ ^ Shoot him. Shannon, and I will give you one of 
the prettiest baubles among those I have bought 
for the Indians. 

No sooner said than Shannon’s rifle went to his 
shoulder, a sharp report rang out over the river, 
the eagle hovered a moment as if to change its 
course, the fish dropped from its beak, and with a 
broken wing the great bird floundered in the air 
and dropped helpless upon the shore. 

Well done, lad! ” cried the captain, and a 
shout of applause went up from the oarsmen. ‘ ‘ It 
was a long shot. I did not think you could do it. 
You have earned the reward. We will need that 
steady eye and steady nerve when we get to the 
wilderness.” 

On the approach of night, or at times when 
the approach of a storm or the blowing of adverse 


38 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


winds made it necessary, the captain directed the 
helmsman to steer for the shore. Then the sail was 
hauled down and put up on the land for shelter, 
the men scattered in search of firewood, and the 
cook prepared supper. Glad were they then to 
stretch their bodies upon the green turf. At such 
times George Shannon shouldered his rifle and 
went out into the woods alone. He loved Nature 
and was never so happy as when alone in the for- 
est. Shannon was a singer, and when laden with 
the spoils of the chase he returned to the boat from 
some hunting excursion, his comrades knew of his 
coming long before they saw him, for his voice 
rang out in some rollicking song, none the less 
clear and long-continued because of the long tramp 
through tangled forests. 

Once he failed to appear when night fell. Some 
alarm was expressed for his safety. No one 
thought of going on without him. 

‘‘We must await his return,’^ said Captain 
Lewis, ‘ ‘ and if he does not appear by morning we 
must go in search of him. I have feared the boy’s 
love for the forest might lead him too far away. 
The Indians are none too friendly since the white 
man has driven them from the Ohio.” But with 
sun-up the next morning. Shannon’s halloo, loud 


DOWN THE OHIO 


39 


and clear, rang from a distant hilltop, and soon he 
was among them, throwing at their feet a beautiful 
doe that had led him a chase for many a mile and 
caused him to forget everything but her beautiful 
eyes, her sleek sides, and her nimble limbs. 

Captain Lewis had not the heart to reprimand 
the boy, for in the incident he saw an exhibition of 
the quality that was to make George Shannon one 
of the men of the great expedition upon whom the 
leaders could depend. 

With hook and line they caught the pickerel and 
the bass that fairly swarmed in the virgin waters. 
With their oars they killed the turtles as they 
slipped from the rocks in fright, and with unerring 
aim they brought down the pigeons, the wild tur- 
keys, and the wild geese that soared above them. 

The journey was enlivened by the constant 
changes of scenery, the excitement of running over 
the shallows and around dangerous reefs or under 
caving banks of earth, the exhilaration of work in 
the open air amid genial companions, and the 
knowledge that before them lay prizes which lost 
nothing of their glory from being the children of 
their imaginations. 

September 13th, nearly two weeks from the day 
the party bade good-bye to the village of Pitts- 


40 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


burg, the boat lay opposite Marietta, at tbe mouth 
of the Muskingum, where, fifteen years before. Gen- 
eral Eufus Putnam had settled with a little colony 
to found the first village in the to-day populous 
State of Ohio. Here a hearty welcome was given 
the party, and here they saw the great circles of 
earthworks builded by races that preceded the In- 
dians. Moored to the bank lay a number of large 
fiat-boats^ and keel boats, fitted up for the river 
trade. 

A few days later they passed the beautiful Blen- 
nerhassett, where a stately mansion, half hid 
among Lombardy poplars, looked out upon them 
as they passed; then Fort Washington, now the 
great city of Cincinnati, stood in view, and below 
it a few days^ journey, the village of Louisville, to 
which their minds and hearts had long been 
turning. 

George Eogers Clark lived at Louisville. It was 
he who had founded it, laid out its streets and 
squares, and built near it a strong fort that might 
stand to the hunted and harassed pioneers of Ken- 
tucky as a place of refuge and defense against the 
Indians and the British alike. Here General 
Clarkes younger brother, William Clark, whom 
Lewis had invited to become his partner in the 


DOWN TEE OHIO 


41 


hazardous enterprise in hand, was to join the party 
with others from the Kentucky settlements. 

Every member of the little company aboard the 
boat, from the captain down, had heard of George 
Rogers Clark ; indeed, there was not a man, woman, 
or child west of the Alleghenies, and certainly few 
in the colonies to the east, who had not heard his 
name and the story of his achievements. And now 
that George Shannon and the recruits from Car- 
lisle were about to see the old hero with their own 
eyes, they showed the greatest interest in every- 
thing pertaining to him, and eagerly plied Captain 
Lewis with questions. 

“ Tell us all about him,^’ entreated Shannon, 
as the company sat about their campfire the 
evening before the day they were to reach Louis- 
ville. 

Captain Lewis was nothing loath to answer, for 
his mind was dwelling on the subject. George Rog- 
ers Clark had ever been his ideal of a soldier, and 
he was never tired of singing his praises. 

General Clark, he began, was born in Vir- 
ginia, and when a boy had a Scotchman for a 
teacher — the same one, by the way, who taught 
James Madison. General Clark and James Mad- 
ison were schoolmates.’’ 


42 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


James Madison, the Secretary of State? 
asked Shannon. 

‘‘ Yes, and a fine man he is. He shook my hand 
the day I left Washington, and I shall not soon for- 
get his kind words. Some day he will be President 
of the United States, I prophesy. Well, Clark did 
what many another Virginia boy has done — 
studied surveying. You know, Washington did the 
same. It^s the best education a boy can get now- 
adays. The demand for surveyors is growing 
every day. Before Clark was twenty-one he was 
surveying on the upper Ohio. When the Shawnees 
rose against the settlements Clark enlisted with 
Governor Dunmore to fight them. Did you ever 
hear of the speech of Logan, the great Mingo 
chief? 

<< Why, yes,’’ replied Shannon, ‘‘I’ve used it 
for a declamation in school. ’ ’ 

“ So has many another boy,” said Captain 
Lewis. “ It will be a long time before American 
boys forget Logan and his speech. You remember 
how it goes : 

“ ‘ I appeal to any white man, if ever he entered 
Logan’s cabin and he gave him not meat; if he 
ever came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. 
During the course of the last long and bloody war 


DO^YN TEE OHIO 


43 


Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for 
peace. Such was my love for the whites that my 
countrymen pointed as they passed and said: 

Logan is the friend of the white man.’’ I had 
even thought to have lived with you hut for the 
injuries of one man. Colonel Cresop, last spring, 
in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the 
relations of Logan, not even sparing my women 
and children. There runs not a drop of my blood 
in the veins of any living creature. This drove me 
to revenge. I have sought it ; I have killed many ; 
I have fully glutted my vengeance ; for my country 
I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor 
a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan 
never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to 
save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan! 
Not one.’ 

That speech is supposed to have been made 
at the time of the signing of the treaty that ended 
that war. Clark at that time got his first expe- 
rience in fighting Indians. Afterward he went 
down into Kentucky and became a leader in the 
defense of the new settlements, so that through all 
that country, even so far as the Mississippi, his 
name became a terror to the red man, as the leader 
of the ^long-knives.’ In 1777, at the age of twenty- 


44 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


four, he was a major of militia, and the next year 
a lieutenant-colonel. At the age of twenty-seven 
he fought the battle of Vincennes, driving the Brit- 
ish out of the Illinois territory. At twenty-nine 
he was a brigadier-general, giving his life and his 
fortune to the defense of the pioneer settlers and 
the building and strengthening of the western 
forts against the British.’’ 

How old is he now!” asked one of the 
men. 

But fifty-one, if I remember correctly,” an- 
swered Captain Lewis. And yet they say he is 
like a broken-down old man. His career, while 
one of splendid service to his country, has ended 
in disappointment for him — a disappointment 
which is breaking his heart. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ How could such a life as his end in disappoint- 
ment! ” asked Shannon. ‘‘ Is his name not re- 
vered throughout the entire country! Is he not 
called the Washington of the West! I am told 
that his old soldiers make annual pilgrimages to 
his home to shake his hand and talk over the days 
when they fought together, and that even the In- 
dians, whom for so many years he fought, come 
and hold their powwows under the shade of his 
trees and there seek his advice and counsel. Has 


DOWN TEE OHIO 


45 


he not served his country well? Certainly she will 
reward him. ’ ^ 

Yes, so it might seem; hut the Colonies were 
so busy with their war against the British along 
the seacoast that they had no thought, no money, 
no men for George Eogers Clark, who, almost 
alone, was fighting the enemies of his country be- 
yond the Alleghenies.” 

But now that the war is encjed, surely Con- 
gress will do him justice and give him the reward 
that he has earned,” cried Shannon, his face hush- 
ing with indignation. Such treatment of its 
heroes is unworthy of the Republic founded by 
Washington and Jefferson.” 

‘‘ True,” answered Lewis, but the fact re- 
mains that George Rogers Clark has lost health 
and fortune in his country's service, and now, im- 
poverished and stricken, he is seemingly forgotten. 
Out of his own private fortune he has had to pay 
the expenses of his campaigns. His brother, Wil- 
liam Clark, wrote me, when he consented to go 
with us, that one reason that led him to accept the 
offer was that he could sell his farm and help to 
pay his brother’s debts. Yet these debts were 
made by that gallant man, not for his own gain, 
but that he might hold the West for his country 


46 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


against its enemies — the British and the Indians. 
You have heard of Vincennes and how, with less 
than two hundred men, Clark captured it in a night, 
and sent General Hamilton in irons to Virginia. 
You must get him to tell you that story. No 
greater achievement will adorn the pages of our 
history in the years to come than Clark’s expedi- 
tion against Vincennes.” 

‘ ^ Did the capture of Vincennes end the war with 
the British and the Indians in the West? ” asked 
McNeal. 

No, that war could never end so long as De- 
troit was in the hands of the British. Detroit was 
the center of British influence and supplies. There 
the British received their re-enforcements; there 
they bribed the Indian tribes ; there they sent out 
their marauding bands of redcoats and savages to 
scour the country from the Ohio to the Mississippi, 
plundering and murdering men, women, and chil- 
dren alike ; and there they bought the scalp locks 
of our people as they would buy pelts. You ask 
me why General Clark is dying of a broken heart. 
Here is the chief reason: Not that he has lost his 
fortune in the defense of his country, hut that he 
was unable, because of his poverty and lack of 
support at Washington, to take Detroit. It was 


DOWN THE OHIO 


47 


the one aim of his life, after he had captured Vin- 
cennes. He knew, as every one knew, that so long 
as Detroit harbored the redcoat, there could be no 
peace for the Ohio and Kentucky settlers. But his 
appeals to Washington met with no response. The 
Government had neither money nor men to send 
him. He must fight the battle alone. So long as 
men and money lasted he fought on, but these 
failed, and broken-hearted, he retired. IJow, aged 
beyond his years, he lives with his sister and her 
family, and his brother William, on the banks of 
the Ohio at Louisville, and there he will die in 
obscurity. This is the man to whom Benjamin 
Franklin said: ‘ You have given an empire to the 
Republic.^ 

I shall get him to tell me about the battle of 
Vincennes,” said Shannon, after a moment of 
silence. ‘ ^ When a young boy, I heard my father 
tell of it, and now that I am to see the great man, 
I shall get it from his own lips.” 

The whole party were curious also to see Cap- 
tain William Clark, who on the morrow was to 
join them at his home near Louisville, for it had 
already been confided to them that Captain Lewis 
was to share the command with his old friend, the 
younger brother of John Rogers Clark. 


48 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


^ ‘ He, too, is a Virginian, ’ ’ said Captain Lewis. 

‘ ‘ He is four years older than I am — that is, thirty- 
three. Many years ago his father, John Clark, 
moved out to Kentucky. But before that William 
Clark and I were hoy friends together in Albe- 
marle County, Virginia. We were comrades to- 
gether, too, under General Wayne when he fought 
the Indians in Ohio, and were with him at the 
battle of Fallen Timbers. Then he became an en- 
gineer, and helped construct some of our Western 
forts. In 1796 he left the army and retired to his 
home near Louisville, where he helped to manage 
the affairs of his brother, the general, who was 
being sued on all sides by persons who had sup- 
plied him with provisions, clothing, etc., in his 
Illinois campaign. Knowing him to be loyal, in- 
telligent, and brave, I selected him from among all 
my acquaintances as the one to divide with me the 
command of this expedition.’^ 

<< Why was it necessary to have two command- 
ers 1 ’ ’ ventured one of the men. 

‘ ‘ President J efferson thought best, ’ ’ replied the 
captain, “ that there be two commanders, so that 
in case anything happened to one there would be 
no question as to who should succeed. I suggested 
Clark, for I not only knew that he was brave, but 


DOWN THE OHIO 


49 


I knew that he was prudent, industrious, and well- 
informed.’^ 

The next day Captain Lewis and his company 
came in sight of Fort Nelson, where it stood pro- 
tecting the little group of cabins that comprised 
the village of Louisville. All wondered at the 
strength of the fortress — a wonder that increased 
when they knew that its walls were cannon-proof ; 
that around it ran a moat, and surrounding that, a 
breastwork of log-pens filled with earth, and pick- 
eted ten feet high on top of the breastwork; that 
within it were mounted a six-pounder captured at 
Vincennes, four cannon, and eight swivels, with an 
abundance of shell, ball, and grapeshot. They did 
not wonder, when told that no enemy dared attack 
it, and that it was the strongest fort west of the 
Alleghenies. 

As soon as Captain Lewis ’ boat came in view up 
the river, sentinels who had been watching for days 
for its coming hastened to the commandant of the 
fort and to the Clark home. No time was lost by 
Captain William Clark in donning his best attire 
and buckling on his sword. Then, accompanied by 
his negro servant, York, and by his brother, the 
general, he hurried to the fort. 

Excitement was high in the little community, for 


50 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


it had long been known that Lieutenant Clark had 
received a commission as a captain and was to head 
an expedition into the undiscovered West. His 
home had been sold, and all preparations had been 
made for his departure. Recruits, too, had been 
selected and were now ready to proceed at a mo- 
ment’s notice, as soon as the boat should come 
from up the river and Captain Lewis should give 
the word. 

There were gathered on the shores all the inhab- 
itants of Louisville — men, women, and children, 
huntsmen, craftsmen, rivermen, negroes, and In- 
dians, the garrison of the fort with banners flying 
— all to do honor to the representative of the young 
Republic who had paid such signal honor to their 
beloved young townsman. 

Captain Lewis stood in the bow of his boat as 
his sturdy oarsmen turned its prow toward the 
shore. His chapeau was in his hand, and his fine 
countenance beamed with pleasure at the prospect 
of grasping the hand of the friend of his earlier 
days. Scarcely had the prow touched the shore 
ere he sprang from the deck, and the two friends 
were in warm embrace. 

Welcome, Captain Lewis ! Welcome to Louis- 
ville ! ” cried Clark, while the bugles sounded, flags 


DOWN TEE OHIO 51 

waved, and the people huzzaed and pressed about 
them, curious and admiring. 

It is good to see you. Captain Clark,’’ replied 
Lewis, his eyes gleaming. 

Then a tall, strong form with bent shoul- 
ders, hared head, and silvered locks, at a 
gesture from Captain William Clark, stepped 
forward. 

^ ‘ My brother, the general. ’ ’ The Clark family 
always called him ‘‘ the general.” 

Captain Lewis stepped forward with extended 
hand. General George Rogers Clark,” he said, 

I am proud to shake your hand. I have long 
wished to meet you. I need not say that your fame 
is as wide as that of Washington. ’ ’ 

The old general lifted his head proudly and 
murmured a word of grateful response. But to 
the young man who held his hand in tight embrace 
there seemed to flit over the old soldier’s counte- 
nance a shadow as of a great sorrow. 

Captain Lewis called his men and presented 
each by name. 

Then the officers of the fort and the principal 
citizens of the village came forward and paid their 
respects to the visitors. It was a glad and wel- 
come experience to Captain Lewis and his men — 


52 TEE BOY PATHFINDER 

an auspicious ending of the first stage of the ex- 
pedition. 

The brief formalities of welcome over, command 
was quickly given and the soldiers wheeled. The 
veteran general and the two young captains, to- 
gether with their men, took the head of the line, 
and the gay procession, followed by the crowd 
of onlookers, marched to the house of the com- 
mandant of the fort, where an ample collation was 
served from tables groaning with the best the land 
atforded. Toasts were drunk to Washington, to 
Jefferson, to the Republic of the United States, to 
General George Rogers Clark, and to Captains 
Meriwether Lewis, and William Clark. 

Several days were spent by Captain Lewis at 
Louisville, during which he unfolded his plans to 
Captain Clark and sought the advice and counsel 
of his brother, the general. 

The recruits that had been selected by Clark at 
once reported to Captain Lewis, who gave them a 
strict examination as to their qualifications for the 
work. There were nine, and all from Kentucky. 
There was Charles Floyd, from a pioneer family, 
whose father, too, had emigrated from Virginia 
and had fought with Daniel Boone. He was to be 
the first citizen soldier of the United States to 


DOWN THE OHIO 


53 


die in the great territory west of the Mississippi 
— the only one of the expedition who was not to 
return alive. There was John Ordway, perhaps 
the best educated man in the expedition, who was 
to become a sergeant and write a diary of the trav- 
els of the party that was to become an inval- 
uable record. There was Nathaniel Pryor, a 
cousin of Floyd, who likewise was made a ser- 
geant, and William Bratton, a blacksmith, and 
John Shields, a gunsmith, and John Colter, who 
had been a ranger with Simon Kenton, and Eeuben 
and James Fields, and William Warner, and Jo- 
seph Whitehouse, all experts with the rifle. 

One other there was who was not to be over- 
looked, and that was the negro, York, who had 
been William Clark’s playmate when the latter 
was a child in Virginia, and who all through the 
young hero ’s boyhood had been his guide and pro- 
tector, and was now his servant and bodyguard. 
York was to go, too, and the negro’s joy was be- 
yond bounds. He would as soon think of taking 
his master’s life as of seeing him go on such an 
expedition without his protection. 

An interpreter was needed — one who knew the 
Indian tongue as he knew his own. General George 
Eogers Clark knew the man for the position — 


54 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


George Drouillard by name — but be was at St. 
Louis. George’s father, Pierre Drouillard, was 
at Louisville, however, so the two captains went to 
see him. Pierre Drouillard had served with Gen- 
eral Clark in his Indian campaigns, and had once 
saved the life of Simon Kenton. The old man 
readily gave them a letter to his son in St. Louis. 

Many and long were the conferences held be- 
tween the captains and their men. The needs of 
the expedition were thoroughly canvassed, and all 
carefully instructed in their duties. 

Such of the men as were not already enlisted in 
the regular army were now told they must enlist, 
as the expedition was to be a military one, gov- 
erned by military regulations. All who took part 
in it, save such as were engaged from time to time 
as guides or rivermen, or for temporary purposes 
only, must take the oath of allegiance and become 
part of the regular army. 

The labor of repairing the boat and furnishing 
her with supplies being completed, the word was 
given that on the following day the expedition was 
to move. But George Shannon had not yet heard 
the story of the battle of Vincennes from the lips 
of its hero, and he resolved to find a way to ac- 
complish his purpose. 


CHAPTER IV 


THE STORY OF VINCENNES 

Getting leave of absence from the boat on the 
last afternoon of the party’s stay at Louisville, 
Shannon made his way to ‘ ‘ Mulberry Hill, ’ ’ where 
in a fine old mansion lived General Clark. He 
found the old veteran sitting under the trees look- 
ing out over the river. Approaching him with cap 
in hand, the young soldier made known his wishes. 

You wish to learn the story of the capture of 
Vincennes!” he exclaimed. Ah, that every 
American youth might learn it in order to know 
what men have suffered and endured for the sake 
of their homes and their country. But Vincennes 
will be forgotten. George Rogers Clark will be 
forgotten by those who will enjoy the liberties for 
which those sufferings were endured. An un- 
grateful country will erect no monument to these 
men. It will even forget their names, and I shall 
die here, penniless and obscure.” The general 
here seemed absorbed in his sorrow and scarcely 
aware of the presence of his young visitor. 

65 


56 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Surely, not so, General Clark. The time will 
come when men will remember. Men through all 
time will seek to know who it was that took and 
kept for the Eepuhlic this great West. I have 
heard my schoolmaster say that men are not ap- 
preciated by the people of their own generation. 
True, you may die here alone, in obscurity, but the 
time will come when these valleys, filled with mil- 
lions of people, will resound with your praises. 
Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois will never 
forget General Clark. 

The old man’s eyes were looking far beyond the 
waters of the great river. It was as if he were 
looking into the great future, and longing for a 
sight of that day when all the land should be full 
of peace — that peace for which he had given his 
life and his fortune. 

‘‘ It may be, young man. Indeed, it must be 
that a Eepuhlic that owes so much to its pioneers 
and its founders will not prove ungrateful. Yes, 
you shall hear the story of Vincennes. Sit here 
on this bench by my side. 

It was in the winter of 1779 and the month of 
February. That was twenty-four years ago, and 
before you were born. Virginia had made claim 
to all the territory north of the Ohio, and I had 


THE STORY OF VINCENNES 57 

been commissioned a colonel, with instructions to 
quiet the Indians and drive out the British, who 
occupied several strong forts within the territory. 
The British Governor, Hamilton, had marched 
down from Detroit to Vincennes with eight hun- 
dred redcoats, and had captured it. A little later 
I was at Kaskaskia with not over an hundred men. 
Through a Frenchman who had come from Vin- 
cennes, I learned that Hamilton was sending out 
from that place all through the country men and 
ammunition to terrify the settlers and win the In- 
dians to the support of the British. The French- 
man gave me to understand that, by reason of these 
parties being sent out, Vincennes itself was weak- 
ened, and that if a strong force were sent against 
it at once it might be taken. The project was a 
hazardous one. It was the middle of winter. My 
men were poorly clothed and poorly fed. They 
were at best but a band of rough frontiersmen, 
rangers, hunters, and the like. We had no pro- 
vision for such an expedition. We had little am- 
munition, and no money with which to buy more. 
But the Frenchman who brought me the news could 
command money, and this he offered me to fit out 
the expedition. Think of it, lad ! But a few more 
than a hundred men, ill-disciplined, without ex- 


58 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


perience in warfare against trained troops such as 
were the British, in the midst of winter, and hun- 
dreds of miles from the point of attack, going 
upon an expedition against a walled fort, swarm- 
ing, as was supposed, with redcoats, officered by a 
brave man, though a cruel one, and supplied with 
everything necessary to a successful defense! ’’ 

But you had no fear! exclaimed Shannon, 
eagerly. 

Yes, I had fear. But one may fear, and yet 
do his duty. I knew that to leave Vincennes in the 
hands of the British was to lose the friendship of 
the Indians, to endanger the life of every settler 
in every cabin north of the Ohio ; perhaps to bring 
down upon our forts on the river hordes of the 
enemy that nothing within our power could with- 
stand. 

I called my men together. Never, young man, 
shall I forget that day, as I stood before them 
looking into their rugged faces and telling them 
of the death that awaited the settlers if we did not 
march immediately upon Vincennes and drive out 
the enemy. With a mighty shout they fell into 
line, and I knew from that moment that in my little 
command, now swelled to one hundred and seventy 
men, there was more courage to face danger than 


TEE STORY OF VINCENNES 


59 


in a whole battalion of British redcoats, supported 
by a thousand treacherous Indians, fighting for 
money or conquest.” 

The old general paused as if overcome with emo- 
tion. Shannon dared not speak. 

On February 5th everything was ready. The 
old priest of Kaskaskia blessed us, and then, cross- 
ing the Kaskaskia Kiver, we made the start. It 
was cold and the low grounds were covered with 
several inches of water, making marching difficult 
and fatiguing. It was evident to me that I must 
keep the men in good spirits, so I let them break 
ranks and hunt by the way. The companies of my 
little command were given horses in turn, and sent 
out into the woods to bring in the game. Then such 
feats as we had around the campfire at night, with 
the men dancing, singing, shouting, wrestling, and 
running races. In all their labor and all their 
sports I joined as one of them, for I must not ap- 
pear to lack spirit. 

Finally we reached the Little Wabash, to find 
it swollen so that it spread far beyond its banks 
and overflowed the adjacent lowlands for miles. 
I had a pirogue built, and by means of it trans- 
ported the baggage and provisions. Then, with 
my men, I plunged in. You should have heard the 


60 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


poor fellows boasting of what they would do when 
they reached Vincennes. Men who could brave 
such difficulties as these icy currents presented, 
they said, would find no difficulty in defeating the 
British when once they got sight of them. Some 
funny things happened as we floundered through 
the water, sometimes shoulder high. I remember 
a little drummer boy who, too short to wade 
through the deep water, floated on his drum. Ah ! 
even the boys had hearts of iron. 

A few days later we reached the Wabash. 
There we found the low country submerged in all 
directions, as far as the eye could see. In places it 
was up to the neck. My men were now half- 
starved, and alarm showed on their faces. Stand- 
ing on the banks of the great current that spread 
in all directions, I knew that it must be advance, 
or die where we were. To return by the way over 
which we had come was certain death by starva- 
tion. We were but a few miles from Vincennes, 
but between us and the fort was one vast flood. 
Pouring some water in my hand and mixing it 
with powder, I blackened my face, gave the war- 
whoop, and jumped into the stream. One by one 
my men followed me. Some one started a song, 
and finally all were shouting and cheering. So 


TEE 8T0RY OF VINCENNES 


61 


cold was it that ice covered the water along the 
shore. Away beyond ns lay a woods, and, though 
I did not know it to he a fact, I cheered my men 
by telling them that, reaching there, we would find 
dry land. At this they shouted and plunged on. 
The weaker men were held up by the stronger, and 
those not tall enough to march in the deepest water 
were carried on the shoulders of the others. At 
last despair seized upon some, so I ordered a major 
to fall to the rear with twenty-five men and shoot 
the first man who refused to advance. Think of 
it, lad ! God grant you may never be brought to 
such a pass.’^ 

But if I am,’^ said Shannon reverently, God 
help me to do my duty. ’ ’ 

Then,^^ went on the general, I ordered the 
pirogue with the baggage to go on, and, after un- 
loading, to come back for the weaker of our men. 
We reached the woods where the men expected land, 
and found the water up to our shoulders. The 
poor fellows who had given out clung there to the 
trunks of trees and fioated upon old logs, wait- 
ing for the pirogue to return. The strongest 
plunged on. But even these, as they neared the 
shore, fell in the shallow water from exhaustion. 
We captured a canoe in which some Indian squaws 


62 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


were carrying a half-quarter of buffalo, some corn, 
tallow, and kettles. Then we made broth to 
strengthen us. Every one got a little, hut the 
strong gave up theirs to the weak. 

‘‘ A little farther on we came to a point where 
we were in full view of the fort, some two miles 
distant. How our men did feast their eyes upon 
it! Every one forgot his suffering. Even the 
weakest sprang to their feet and cheered. A 
Frenchman hunting in the vicinity was captured, 
and from him we learned the British had that very 
day completed the wall of their fort, and that 
many Indians had gathered in the village. Here, 
then, was our situation : With less than one hun- 
dred and fifty men, half dead from fatigue and 
starving, we were facing a walled fort that pro- 
tected a garrison of redcoats and Indians, whose 
numbers we could not know. To back out was im- 
possible. Capture meant death. There was hut 
one thing to do — ^march on. I at once wrote a 
message, directing it to the inhabitants, many of 
whom, particularly the French, I believed to be 
half friendly to us. In that message I said, and I 
remember it as plainly as if it were before me now ; 

‘Being now within two miles of your village 
with my army, determined to take your fort this 


TEE STORY OF VINCENNES 


63 


night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take 
this method to request such of you as are true cit- 
izens and are willing to enjoy the liberty I bring 
you, to remain still in your houses; and those, if 
any there be, that are friends to the King, will 
instantly repair to the fort and join the hair-buyer 
general and fight like men; and if any such as do 
not go to the fort shall be discovered afterward, 
they may depend upon severe punishment. On the 
contrary, those that are true friends to liberty may 
depend on being well treated ; and I once more re- 
quest them to keep out of the streets ; for every one 
I find in arms on my arrival, I shall treat as an 
enemy. ’ 

^ ^ When the messenger reached the town, I could 
see through my glasses that there was great com- 
motion. The message no doubt occasioned sur- 
prise, and there were many who hesitated, not 
knowing what to do. In the evening when we moved 
toward the fort great crowds were watching us. 
We kept concealed as much as possible, that our 
numbers might not be counted. We had several 
flags, and these we placed on poles and held aloft. 
We had captured some horses in the neighborhood 
of the fort, and these the officers mounted bare- 
back. 


64 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


It was dark before we had traversed half the 
distance to the town, then, suddenly changing our 
direction, we came upon the fort from the opposite 
side and began firing. To our surprise we found 
that there was no answer to our attack. Later we 
found our message had not reached the fort at all 
and had only become known in the village ; that the 
soldiers, having finished the fort that day, had 
retired early to rest, and that the first shots 
from our men were not noticed, as frequently 
drunken Indians saluted the fort by shooting off 
their firearms at all hours of the night. This was 
a great piece of good fortune to us, for it gave the 
friendly inhabitants of the village, among whom 
were nearly a hundred Indians who were well dis- 
posed toward us, a chance to join us and supply us 
with powder that we sorely needed. Soon we had 
the garrison completely surrounded and were fir- 
ing upon it from every direction. The cannon of 
the garrison were at the angles of the fort on the 
upper floors of the blockhouses, so that our troops 
had no difficulty when within twenty or thirty 
yards of the walls, in keeping out of range. Thus 
it was that, firing in the dark at an enemy whose 
location they could not know, they did little dam- 
age, while our men, noting the points where the 


TEE STOEY OF VINCENNES 


65 


cannon were fired, poured in their volleys and soon 
silenced them. A little before morning we ceased 
firing and I withdrew the troops. 

A small company from the garrison com- 
manded by a Captain Lamotte had gone out the 
previous day to reconnoiter, and now were hover- 
ing about to find a way to get back into the fort. 
Some of my men captured a few of the party, and 
among them Maisonville, a famous Indian. The 
two young fellows who captured him tied him to a 
post in the street and fought behind him as a 
breastwork. One of my officers discovered the fun 
the boys were having, and rescued him. I did not 
want Captain Lamotte and his men to escape, so 
I determined to give them a chance to get into the 
fort. I gave orders in case Lamotte should ap- 
proach not to alarm him unless there was a cer- 
tainty of taking the whole party. In the course of 
a few minutes some twenty men, and among them 
Lamotte, appeared at the walls of the fort and, 
mounting ladders that were thrown to them, as- 
cended to the top of the wall. Immediately after 
they entered the firing began again on both sides, 
and was kept up until nine o’clock the following 
morning. Then I sent a letter to Governor Ham- 
ilton saying that if he would save himself he must 


66 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


immediately surrender, and telling him that if he 
did not he might depend upon such treatment as 
was justly due to a murderer. I bade him beware 
of destroying stores of any kind, or any papers or 
letters that were in his possession, or hurting one 
house in the town, for, by heaven, if he did there 
should be no mercy shown him. Hamilton replied 
that he was not disposed to be awed into any action 
unworthy of a British subject. 

Then my men wanted to storm the place, but 
I did not permit it. Toward evening Hamilton 
sent me a letter proposing a truce for three days, 
saying that he wished to confer with me and pro- 
posed that we speak at the gate of the fort. My 
reply was that I would not agree to any terms other 
than his surrendering himself and his garrison, 
and that if he wished to meet me, he might do so 
at the church, with Captain Helm. The church 
was about eighty yards from the fort. Captain 
Helm was one of my men whom they had captured. 
The meeting took place as proposed. Hamilton 
otfered terms which I rejected, and advised him at 
the same time that it would be useless for him to 
make any proposition other than for an absolute 
surrender. I suggested to him that if my men 
were given the opportunity to storm the fort, it 


TEE STORY OF VINCENNES 


67 


would be out of my power to save a single life. 
But Hamilton refused to accept the terms and 
started back to the fort. When he had taken a 
few steps he turned and asked my reason for re- 
fusing the garrison the terms that he had pro- 
posed. And these are the reasons that I gave him : 
That I knew the greater part of the Indian allies 
were with him ; that the cries of the widows and the 
fatherless on the frontiers, which they had oc- 
casioned, now required their blood from my hand ; 
that I would rather lose fifty men than not to em- 
power myself to execute this piece of business with 
propriety ; that if he chose to risk the massacre of 
his garrison for their sakes it was for his own pleas- 
ure, and that I might take it into my head to send 
for some of those widows to see it executed. We 
then parted, but in the afternoon we met again. 
Then Hamilton surrendered the entire garrison 
and I sent him and his officers prisoners to Vir- 
ginia. That is the story of Vincennes.’^ 

How many men did you lose? asked Shan- 
non with breathless interest. 

Not a man killed and but one wounded, the 
soldier replied proudly. 

‘ ‘ And by that victory you practically drove the 
British out of the West,’’ went on the young man. 


68 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Detroit alone remained,’^ the general an- 
swered soberly — Detroit, the center of all the 
British and Indian intrigues of the day. Yes, 
Detroit alone remained. How I longed to march 
my brave little army against it. But what could 
I do with so few? 

During the recital of his story the old soldier 
had risen to his feet, and at mention of the bravery 
of his men on the fearful march his eyes glistened 
and his form shook. Gradually as he neared the 
close his voice fell and when, at the boy’s question, 
he spoke the name, Detroit, he dropped helplessly 
on his seat, his form lax, and his voice a mere 
whisper. The interview was over. The general 
had fallen into the old sorrow. 

General Clark,” said the hoy, after a mo- 
ment’s pause in which neither spoke, I am a 
young man. All this was before I was born. If I 
had lived in your day I should have wanted to he 
with you. I want to carry your spirit into the 
task before me. I shall remember this hour, 
General. Good-bye. ’ ’ 

A silent lifting of the head and a feeble gesture 
as of one bestowing a blessing, was the only re- 
sponse, and Shannon quietly withdrew. 


CHAPTER V 


THE STABS AND STBIPES WAVE OVER A NEW EMPIRE 

Their numbers being increased by the nine Ken- 
tuckians who had been recruited at Louisville, and 
the boat being newly fitted out, the expedition was 
ready to proceed. 

The entire population of the town and the fort 
were on the river bank when the boat swung out 
into the stream. The shrill music of the fife and 
drum and the shouts of the people were answered 
by cheers from the boat, a volley from the rifles 
of the men drawn up on the little deck, and the 
flutterings of the flag from the masthead. General 
Clark, tall and commanding, though bent, stood 
foremost among the crowd upon the shore, his 
deep sunken eyes filled with longing and regret. 
George Shannon long remembered the picture the 
old man made as he raised his chapeau to the little 
company of explorers in token of farewell. 

Captain Lewis had started that morning over- 
land to Kaskaskia by way of the Vincennes trail, 
there to recruit more men for the undertaking, 
69 


70 THE BOY PATHFINDER 

and Captain Clark was left in command of the 
boat. 

At Kaskaskia Lewis received a warm welcome 
from Major Amos Stoddard, in command of a 
New Hampshire company that had recently come 
into the West. There also he found twenty of the 
soldiers eager to enlist for the expedition. Three 
alone seemed fit, namely, John Ordway, of New 
Hampshire; Eobert Frazer, of Vermont, and 
Thomas P. Howard, of Massachusetts. 

But Kaskaskia contributed one other to the lit- 
tle company of immortals — a brawny, fun-loving 
Irishman, a carpenter by trade, whom the com- 
mander of the Kaskaskia garrison could ill afford 
to lose ; but so hard did Patrick Gass plead to go, 
and so much was Captain Lewis impressed with 
his skill as a carpenter, and with his genial Irish 
nature, that finally the Irishman gained permis- 
sion to become one of the expedition. 

On his way down the river with the boat Captain 
Clark enlisted at Fort Massac five others, namely, 
Silas Goodrich, Eichard Windsor, Hugh Hall, 
Alexander H. Willard (who had run away from 
his home in New Hampshire when a boy), and 
John B. Thomas, a surveyor from Vincennes. 

It was December when the two captains joined 


THE STABS AND STRIPES 71 

their little forces in front of the old fort that stood 
on a hillside near the village of St. Louis. From 
the tower of the fort floated the flag of Spain. It 
was the first time George Shannon had seen the 
flag that ruled the great territory west of the 
Mississippi. He had learned from Captain Lewis 
that a few days before he had left Washington of- 
ficial information had been received by Presi- 
dent Jefferson that Napoleon, who had long before 
secretly purchased the Louisiana territory from 
Spain, had now sold it to the United States. 

No wonder the young man was puzzled on seeing 
the Spanish flag floating over American soil, now 
eight months after the date of the purchase. 
Others of the men expressed the same surprise. 

We shall see,^^ exclaimed Captain Lewis, 
hearing the discussion of the subject. Perhaps 
the news has not reached the Spanish Governor. 
If not, we shall be the bearer to him of important 
and, perhaps, distasteful tidings.’^ 

Now the boat was rapidly approaching the west 
bank of the Mississippi, in full view of the village 
and fort. The appearance of so formidable a 
craft, with the Stars and Stripes floating in the 
breeze and manned by officers and men, some of 
whom were in the somber uniform of the Amer- 


72 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


ican army, caused no little consternation on tlie 
shore. So, when the boat approached the land, a 
squad of Spanish soldiers, with an officer at their 
head and surrounded by many of the inhabitants, 
was drawn up to meet it. With a flourish of his 
sword the officer directed where the boat was to 
land. Then a parley was held and a messenger 
sent to the Government House, resulting in a re- 
quest from the Spanish Governor, Don Carlos De 
Hault De Lassus, directed to the captain of the 
expedition, that he repair to the Government 
House for a conference. Captain Lewis obeyed 
the summons. The governor met him with true 
Spanish civility, but on learning that the expedi- 
tion proposed to proceed up the Missouri and 
winter at Charette, he distinctly informed its 
leader that, according to the policy of his govern- 
ment, the Americans could not be permitted to 
cross the Mississippi and enter Spanish territory. 

But,’^ said Captain Lewis, the country has 
been sold to the United States. It is our own ter- 
ritory. Our commissioners at Paris, Eobert Liv- 
ingston, and J ames Monroe, have signed a treaty 
with Napoleon whereby the territory from the 
Mississippi to the Pacific is ours. That treaty was 
made last April, eight months ago.” 


TEE STARS AND STRIPES 


73 


But what right had Napoleon to sell territory 
that was not his ? ’ ’ replied the governor. ^ ^ When 
did Spain relinquish to the French Eepublic her 
rights here I 

Surely,” replied Captain Lewis, it must 
be known to you that three years ago Spain, by 
a treaty with Napoleon, ceded all this territory to 
him, and that the only reason why the Spanish 
flag still floats at New Orleans and St. Louis is 
that Napoleon preferred not to make the transac- 
tion known. Only nominally is the land under the 
Spanish flag. For over two years it has belonged 
to France.” 

And yet,” replied the governor, granting 
that this all be true, no formal transfer of sov- 
ereignty has been made from Spain to France, and 
certainly none from France to the United States. 
Until I have received official instructions from 
Madrid, I can act upon no other theory than that 
the Louisiana Territory still belongs to my mas- 
ter, the King of Spain. ^ ^ 

Thus ended the interview, hut in a few days a 
messenger was on his way to St. Louis from New 
Orleans bringing tidings that on December 20th, 
in the presence of the entire population, the Span- 
ish commissioners had formally transferred 


74 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Louisiana to France and hauled down the Spanish 
flag in the great square in front of the Cahildo; 
that, amid the shouts of the Creole population of 
the old French city, the tricolor of the French 
Eepublic had taken its place ; that on the following 
day General Wilkinson, at the head of a body of 
American troops, had proudly entered the city 
with Governor Claiborne at his side, and in the 
same Cahildo had received from the French com- 
missioners the transfer of the Louisiana Territory 
from France to the United States; that then the 
French tricolor had come down and the Stars and 
Stripes had taken its place and was now floating 
in the breeze to symbolize the adoption into the 
New Eepublic of the vast territory extending from 
the Mississippi across the stony mountains to the 
Pacific. 

Meanwhile, at the mouth of the Dubois Eiver, a 
mile below the mouth of the Missouri, and nearly 
opposite the village of St. Louis, the commanders 
had made fast their boat, disembarked, and ar- 
ranged for permanent winter headquarters. In- 
stead of passing the winter at Charette, a point 
far up the Missouri, the last point of settlement of 
the white man, where old Daniel Boone, now sev- 
enty years of age, but still rugged and hearty, was 


THE STARS AND STRIPES 


75 


spending his last days, they were compelled to 
remain on the American side of the Mississ- 
ippi until such time as the Spanish flag on the 
fort across the river should give place to the Stars 
and Stripes. 

How long it might be before the Spanish com- 
mander should receive instructions to hand over 
the territory to the French, so that by them it 
might be transferred to the Americans, no one 
could say. It might be a few weeks ; it might be 
months ; they could only wait. 

Making the camp as comfortable as possible, the 
two captains set to work at once building boats, 
adding to their supplies, and getting acquainted 
with the inhabitants, so as to learn all they pos- 
sibly could of the territory they were about to 
enter. 

Captain Clark divided the men into squads and 
messes (commanded by Ordway, Pryor, and Floyd, 
as sergeants), and superintended a daily drill. At 
frequent intervals the men joined in friendly con- 
tests, wrestling, racing, and shooting at targets 
for prizes offered by the commanders. Strict dis- 
cipline was maintained, and swift and sure pun- 
ishment meted out to any who disobeyed the rules 
laid down for the little camp. Frequent hunting 


76 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


and fishing excursions relieved the monotony of 
hard work and camp duties. During this time 
George Shannon, the boy of the party, distin- 
guished himself on several occasions by his skill 
as a hunter. 

One morning, having gone out early to bring in 
the rabbit traps that had been set in the under- 
brush a few hundred yards back from the river, 
Shannon reported that the traps had been dis- 
turbed by timber wolves, whose tracks were plainly 
visible in the snow. 

Wolves were bigger game than rabbits, so the 
young hunter determined to set his traps the next 
night for wolves. 

A number of large beaver traps were among 
those provided by Captain Lewis at Pittsburg for 
the use of the hunters, and these the boy had no 
difficulty in obtaining permission to use. 

At nightfall, after the camp work was out of the 
way. Shannon set off with his traps slung across 
his shoulder. The moon was shining brightly 
when he reached the tangled thicket where the 
tracks of the wolves had been discovered. Care- 
fully laying the traps in the animal runs, he fast- 
ened them to trees and covered them with snow. 
Before starting out he had taken the precaution 


THE STARS AND STRIPES 


77 


of standing for a long time in the smoke of the 
campfire, and in handling the traps he wore gloves 
of buckskin well smoked, so as to throw ofif the 
keen scent of the wily animals. 

Having fixed everything to his satisfaction, he 
returned to camp, well satisfied that soon there 
would be something more interesting than rabbits 
to look after in his traps. 

Long before the camp was astir the next morn- 
ing, the eager hunter was up and otf for the woods. 
To his delight he found, on approaching the first 
trap, an immense wolf crouching at the base of a 
tree, its tongue hanging from its mouth and its 
round eyes blazing with fury. At once, on seeing 
him, the animal gave an angry snarl, plunged to 
the end of the chain, and snapped together its 
terrific teeth with a sound that made the boy shiver 
with the thought of what might happen should the 
fastening give way. Creeping up cautiously to 
within striking distance, he drew a tomahawk 
from his belt and, lifting it high in the air, brought 
it down directly between the animaPs eyes. With 
a smothered yelp it fell dead at the hunter’s feet. 

A hundred yards farther into the woods Shan- 
non found that a trap had been carried otf. The 
sapling to which it had been fastened was gnawed 


78 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


in two at the base, and evidences of a terrific 
struggle abounded on every hand. 

Forgetful of everything but the prey that had 
escaped him, he at once sprang upon the wolf’s 
tracks, which for a time were easy to follow over 
the snow, as the long chain attached to the trap 
left a distinct trail behind it. ‘‘ Surely it cannot 
run far,” the boy said to himself, ‘‘ for the chain 
will catch, or the weight of it will tire it out. ’ ’ At 
times the trail showed indistinctly. There were 
places where the snow had blown away, and the 
wolf had run over the surface of the hard ground. 
Where this was the case he had to search long and 
diligently, and only by slight scratches on the rock 
where the chain had rubbed over it, could he dis- 
cover the course taken. 

Finally, after several hours ’ pursuit, he pushed 
out from under a dense wood, to see the wolf a 
half a mile ahead, running with a long, swinging 
stride toward a precipitous bank at the river’s 
edge. The wolf had traveled in a semicircle, 
much to the young hunter’s joy, for it brought 
him back to the river at a distance not far from 
the camp. 

When the wolf saw its pursuer it doubled its 
speed, changing its pace to long bounds, appar- 


TEE STARS AND STRIPES 79 

ently little hindered by the weight of the trap and 
chain that still clung to one of its hind legs. 

Shannon at once suspected that the wolf in- 
tended to play him a trick, but, run fast as he 
might, he could not get within gunshot before the- 
animal reached the edge of the precipice and, with- 
out a moment ^s hesitation, plunged some twenty 
feet into a thicket of tangled bushes along the 
water ^s edge and disappeared. Nothing daunted, 
however, the young hunter hurried as fast as his 
tired legs could carry him for a full half mile up 
the river to a point where he could clamber down 
the bank, and then, running along the margin of 
the water with rifle ready for instant use, and 
shouting and striking the bushes to drive the wolf 
from cover, sought his prey. 

After proceeding a short distance, he heard a 
ferocious, blood-curdling snarl, and saw the bushes 
part immediately before him. The angry wolf, 
every bristle of its back pointing forward, its 
vicious teeth snapping like strokes of a hammer, 
its eyes darting fire, and its blood-red tongue 
lolling from its mouth, was not twenty feet away. 
There was scarcely time for him to lift his rifle 
to his shoulder but, quick as thought, he took aim, 
and before the animal could spring, a ball had 


80 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


entered its neck just below the ear. With a baf- 
fled cry, the beast slunk back into the bushes, but 
only for a moment. The boy now had an empty 
rifle, and that could be of no further use to him, 
for there was no time to reload. Throwing it 
aside, he drew his long hunting knife from its 
sheath, and bracing himself waited. The wolf 
had been wounded badly, though not mortally. It 
had not lost courage. Cowardly as the wolf is 
under ordinary circumstances, when cornered and 
forced to fight it is a terrible antagonist. 

The recoil of the beast after the shot was but 
for an instant, and then it was upon the boy. But 
Shannon was ready, with knife uplifted. A false 
stroke now meant the end of his hunting days. 
With a dim consciousness of a great form leaping 
toward him in the air and a hot breath on his face, 
he gave a desperate lunge with the knife, putting 
into it the whole strength of his arm and then, as 
the beast, with a horrible snapping of its great 
jaws, fell at his feet, he heard a cry from the bank 
above. It was the voice of Whitehouse who, having 
been sent out with McNeal to find him, had come 
up at the moment of his great danger, though 
powerless to help, and not daring to cry out. 

Bravo, Shannon! cried Whitehouse. You 



k ^ va , 


A false stroke now meant the end of his hunting days. — Page 80 






TEE STABS AND STRIPES 


81 


fight like a veteran. This makes up for the run 
yon have given us. ’ ^ 

Shannon responded feebly by waving his hand, 
his voice for the time having left him. 

YouVe got the stuff in you, Shannon,’’ com- 
mented McNeal, a little later on, when they joined 
one another and set off for the camp. But the 
next time you go chasing wolves over the country 
let us know where you are going. You did not 
turn up for breakfast, and the captain was wor- 
rying about you. He seems to think you are a 
mere boy.” 

He will know different before we are far on 
this journey, or my name is not George Shannon,” 
replied the youth doggedly. 

He will know different when he sees this, and 
when we tell him how you got this fellow,” said 
Whitehouse, pointing to the wolf-skin that he and 
McNeal bore between them. 

The story of Shannon’s bravery was not long 
in coming to the ears of all in the camp, and com- 
manders and men joined in praising the boy for 
his skill and courage. 

Captain Lewis spent much of his time in St. 
Louis during the winter, where by his official stand- 
ing, the importance of his commission, his inti- 


82 THE BOY PATHFINDER 

mate relations with the President of the American 
Republic, his handsome face and affable manners, 
he won the favor of all. 

Among those with whom he became acquainted 
was one Dr. Saugrain, a chemist and physician, 
who had been educated in Paris. Many hours the 
two spent together, Lewis finding out all he could 
from the learned doctor about medicine and sur- 
gery, and receiving from him vials and packages 
of valuable remedies. From him he also obtained 
the secret of how to make matches by dipping tiny 
pieces of wood, tipped with sulphur, into prepared 
phosphorus, so that later it came about that in 
the fastnesses of the great mountains bordering 
on the Pacific, matches were lighted before they 
were known in the populous centers of the Atlantic 
coast. 

In due time the messenger arrived from New 
Orleans with instructions to the Spanish Gov- 
ernor, De Lassus, to transfer the territory under 
his jurisdiction to the French. Commissioners 
were appointed by the French Government to re- 
ceive the transfer of the territory and then, in 
turn, to transfer it to Major Stoddard, of Kas- 
kaskia, who had been commissioned by Jefferson 
to receive it for the United States. 


THE STARS AND STRIPES 83 

March 10, 1804, was an important day in 
the village of St. Louis. Its three little, narrow 
streets were gayly decorated with the colors of 
Spain, of France, and of the United States. The 
settlers gathered in from the surrounding coun- 
try. The friendly Indians of the neighborhood, 
notified of an important happening about to take 
place, came in long files, painted and decorated for 
a gala occasion. The Spanish soldiers were early 
drawn up in the Place d^Armes, in front of the 
Government House facing the flagstaff, at the top 
of which floated the flag of Spain. Major Stod- 
dard, and a detachment of American soldiers from 
Kaskaskia, had arrived by boat and were prepar- 
ing to march to the Place d^Armes as soon as they 
should receive the signal. Captain Lewis and 
Captain Clark had crossed the river with all their 
men save such as were necessary to guard the 
camp. 

At ten o^clock the Place d^Armes, in front of the 
Government House, was filled with a motley array 
of Spaniards, Frenchmen, Americans, hunters, 
trappers, and Indians in bright colors. From win- 
dows and housetops floated the banners of three 
nations. The galleries were filled with Creole and 
Spanish beauties, in their brightest array. Gov- 


84 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


ernor De Lassus, in the presence of the assembled 
people, announced, in broken voice, that in the 
name of the King he transferred the sovereignty 
of the territory to the French Republic. The sol- 
diers of Spain presented arms. The flag of Spain 
was lowered from the flagstaff, while De Lassus 
wept. Then a little company of Frenchmen hauled 
up the tricolor of France. St. Louis was a French 
city, though under Spanish rule, and a great shout 
went up as the flag of France, that for forty yeaj-s 
had been supplanted by the flag of Spain, again 
floated in the breeze. 

Let it remain overnight, cried the Creoles, 
with tears in their eyes, and so all through that 
afternoon, and the evening and the night that fol- 
lowed, it fluttered in the breeze. In the meantime 
the Spanish soldiers marched to the water’s edge 
and embarked for New Orleans, whence they sailed 
away, ending forever the rule of Spain in the 
Louisiana Territory. 

The next morning the simple yet solemn cere- 
mony of the transfer from France to the United 
States in the same Place d’Armes was enacted. 
The fleur-de-lis of France came down, and the 
Stars and Stripes arose amid the stirring music 
of fife and drum and a hearty cheer from the little 


THE STARS AND STRIPES 


85 


group of Americans, among whom were Captains 
Lewis and Clark and their men, who in that little 
old French village saw an empire thus added to 
the nation ^s territoxy., 


CHAPTEE VI 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 

There was now nothing to prevent the expedi- 
tion crossing the river and entering the Missouri 
— yes, there was one difficulty. It was March and 
the ice had broken loose in the great river. There 
must be still further waiting. How impatient 
were the members of the expedition! How tire- 
some became the routine of camp life ! How the 
men longed, with the coming of spring, the budding 
of the trees, the singing of birds, to see their hopes 
blossom into fruition ! Eagerly they watched the 
river for signs that its current was free of ice, so 
that they could set forth. 

Wonderful stories they had heard of the bound- 
less territory into which they were about to make 
their way. It had been said by men far to the 
east that in that undiscovered West were fierce 
and bloodthirsty Indians who would not admit of 
the passage of white men through their territory ; 
that there were great beasts hidden in the forests, 
more fierce than the panther and the bear; that 
86 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 87 

the prehistoric mammoth, of which the geog- 
raphies of the schoolboys contained wonderful pic- 
tures, wandered in the depths of the wilderness ; 
that, wonder of wonders 1 a solid mountain of salt, 
eighty miles long and forty-five miles wide, was 
hidden away somewhere within it, glistening in 
the sunlight like a huge diamond ; that there were 
springs of poisoned water arising out of the earth, 
and great plains filled with noisome gases that 
killed all animal and vegetable life ; that there were 
impassable mountains rising thousands of feet in 
a sheer perpendicular, over which scarcely the 
eagle could fly. And yet these men longed for the 
day to come when they might brave all dangers 
and prove them to be either realities or the dreams 
of ignorance ! 

Three boats had been made ready, one a large 
keelboat or bateau, fifty-five feet long, drawing 
three feet of water and propelled by twenty-two 
oarsmen. A big, square sail, fixed to the mast that 
stood a little forward of the center, was to help in 
a favoring breeze. Wliere sails and oars could 
not be used, as where the wind was adverse and 
the water shallow, an arrangement was provided 
by which the boat might be hauled along by the 
men pulling on a long rope running from the bow 


88 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


to the shore. The rope was attached to the mast 
near the top, brought down to the bow, where it 
ran through a ring, and thence extended to the 
shore, so that when it was necessary for the rope 
to pass over obstructions at the water’s edge it 
could be loosened from the ring at the bow, pulled 
taut from the top of the mast, and thus lifted high. 
This boat had two decks, one fore and the other 
aft, forming a forecastle and a cabin, while the 
middle part was supplied with lockers covering 
the provisions and other stores, and so arranged 
that when opened they presented a defense against 
attack from the shore. A swivel gun stood on the 
bow. 

The two other boats were of the style known 
as pirogues, shaped like flatirons, with flat bot- 
toms and square sterns. One was painted red and 
the other white. They were roomy and of light 
draft, propelled, one by six oars, and the other by 
seven. Each carried a square sail, which could be 
used as a tent when occasion required. 

In the holds of the boats were stored seven bales, 
and one box of supplies for the journey, consisting 
of clothing, boots, candles, tools, firearms, powder, 
balls and lead for bullets, flints for the flintlock 
guns then in use, and provisions consisting of 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 89 

corn, flour, biscuits, salt, pork, coffee, beans, and 
meal. In addition there were fourteen bales and 
one box of presents for the Indians, consisting of 
coats laced with gilt braid, red trousers, three 
grades of medals for Indian chiefs, — the largest 
one of which bore the face of Jefferson, — Amer- 
ican flags, knives, colored handkerchiefs, paints, 
small looking-glasses, tomahawks, and many 
pounds of beads. 

One thing the keelboat carried, of which Captain 
Lewis was especially proud, and that was a steel 
frame for a canoe which he had caused to be made 
at Harper ^s Ferry. Its weight was ninety-nine 
pounds, and its carrying capacity 1770 pounds. 
Of what service this steel frame was to be, the 
explorers were to learn when they came to set it 
up a year later at the headwaters of the Missouri. 

The men who formed the little company on that 
day in May, when, with their long poles pressed to 
their shoulders, they pushed the boats out into the 
current of the Mississippi, were Captains Meri- 
wether Lewis, and William Clark, Sergeants John 
Ordway, Nathaniel Pryor, and Charles Floyd, Pri- 
vates William Bratton, J ohn Colter, Patrick Gass, 
John Collins, Peter Cruzatte, Eeuben Fields, Jo- 
seph Fields, Eobert Frazier, George Gibson, Silas 


90 


THE BOY PATHFINDEB 


Goodrich, Hugh Hall, Thomas P. Howard, Francis 
Labiche, Hugh McNeal, John Fox, George Shan- 
non, John Shields, John B. Thompson. William 
Werner, John Newman, Joseph Whitehouse, M. 
B. Eeed, Alexander Willard, Richard Windsor, 
Peter Wiser, and York, the negro. In addition 
there were a number of rivermen, guides, and 
interpreters, engaged to go as far as the country 
of the Mandans only. 

Their costumes were varied, but all carried 
knives in belts, pistols in holsters, knapsacks, pow- 
der horns and pouches of shot, with trusty flintlock 
rifles or muskets. For use in hunting and in 
drawing the boats over shallows, two of the party 
were detailed to follow along the shore with 
horses. 

Thus provisioned, uniformed and accoutered, at 
three o ’clock on the afternoon of May 14, 1804, the 
expedition of Lewis and Clark entered the broad 
mouth of the muddy Missouri. 

The start was made under happy auspices. The 
inhabitants of the neighboring country gathered 
on the banks and waved their farewells, shouting 
as long as the boats were within hearing, messages 
of encouragement and Godspeed. A light breeze 
filled the sails of the three boats, and the men at 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 


91 


the oars, eager to be off, sent the craft along at 
a good speed. Captain Clark, with twenty-seven 
of the men, and among them Shannon, was in the 
keelboat. The others were in the two pirogues. 
Those in the red one were mainly the French 
guides and rivermen, eight in number, who were 
to accompany the expedition as far as to the coun- 
try of the Mandan Indians; those in the white 
pirogue were soldiers, numbering six. 

It was the purpose of Captain Clark, who at this 
time was alone in command of the boats (Captain 
Lewis having remained in St. Louis for a few 
days), to go as far as St. Charles, a village of some 
twenty-one miles up the river, and there make a 
halt, and if necessary make such changes in the 
cargo as the experience of travel for the first few 
days should show to be necessary. Here Captain 
Lewis was to overtake him by a march across the 
country from St. Louis. 

Although the distance to St. Charles was but 
twenty-one miles, it was noon of the 16 th before 
the little village was sighted, and the boats drew 
up along the shore in the presence of a crowd of 
French and Indians who flocked to the river. The 
welcome extended by the four hundred and fifty 
inhabitants, chiefly French, was spontaneous and 


92 


THE WY PATHFINDER 


hearty. The people appeared to be very poor and 
very lazy, and yet they did the honors with that 
politeness and finish that is characteristic of the 
French people wherever they are found and how- 
ever poor they may be. 

At St. Charles a complete examination of the 
boats was made, resulting in a shifting of the car- 
goes toward the bows, for it had been found that 
the Missouri in places was very shallow, and that 
great logs lay beneath the surface, so that the boats 
heavily laden in the stern were liable to strike 
these impediments and, by the bow swinging 
around in the current, run great danger of over- 
turning. Three times during Tuesday, the day 
before reaching St. Charles, did the keelboat have 
narrow escapes, the marvelous skill and energy of 
the experienced rivermen alone preventing its 
capsizing; so the command was given to carry 
enough of the cargoes forward of the middle of 
the boats, so that, in going up the river, the bow, 
and not the stern, might meet the obstructions 
first. 

On Wednesday a ball was given by the people 
of St. Charles in honor of their visitors. On 
Thursday a number of Kickapoo Indians paid 
Captain Clark a visit, and George Drouillard, the 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 


93 


interpreter and hunter whom Captain Lewis had 
engaged at St. Louis, arrived. 

On Thursday it became necessary for Captain 
Clark to punish one of his men. John Collins had 
acted in an unbecoming manner at the ball the 
night before. He had been absent, too, from the 
boats without leave, and on his return had spoken 
disrespectfully of his commanding officer. A trial 
was given him by a court composed of four of the 
members of the party, presided over by Sergeant 
Ordway. The court found him guilty and sen- 
tenced him to receive fifty lashes on his naked 
back. In the carrying out of the sentence the en- 
tire company was drawn up in military order. 
In its presence the culprit was stripped and the 
lashes laid on good and hard by one of the soldiers 
commissioned by Captain Clark to administer the 
punishment. The inhabitants of the little village 
stood about, awed by the severity of the discipline, 
but when it was explained to them how absolutely 
necessary to the safety of the expedition it was 
that every man do his duty, they were satisfied. 

The party remained at St. Charles until the fol- 
lowing Monday when. Captain Lewis having ar- 
rived from St. Louis, the boats set out from shore 
amid the cheers of the entire populace. 


94 


THE BOY PATEFINDEB 


On the day after the party left St. Charles they 
came upon a camp of Kickapoos, who were ninety 
miles away from their homes, which were to the 
east of the Mississippi, on a hunting expedition. 
They gave to the captains four deer and received 
in return two quarts of whisky. History faithfully 
records that the first present given by the agents 
of our Government to the Indians beyond the 
Mississippi was the fire-water that was to 
play so important a part in the destruction of the 
red men, though not so intended by those who first 
went among them. 

On the following Wednesday the boats reached 
a little settlement called by the French the Tav- 
ern, situated near a large cave that provided a 
stopping place for travelers going up and down 
the river. In this little settlement of thirty or 
forty families, mostly Americans, old Daniel 
Boone had found a home. Here, the farthest re- 
moved of any American settlement from the land 
of civilization, the old hunter had received a grant 
of land from the Spanish in 1798. 

Every member of the company eagerly antici- 
pated meeting the veteran hunter, and great was 
their disappointment on finding that the old Ken- 
tucky backwoodsman was off on a hunting expe- 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 95 

dition, and that they must leave without seeing 
him. 

For several days the boats crept slowly up the 
river, pushing against its swift, muddy current, 
dodging the trunks of trees floating down from 
above, barely escaping destruction on shifting 
sandbars, pulling for life from under falling banks, 
and at times dragged over shallows by means of 
towlines. 

The company now proceeded with military pre- 
cision. The three sergeants, Floyd, Ordway, and 
Pryor, had command of the large boat. One of 
them remained continually at the helm to steer 
the boat and to look after the baggage and the 
compass; another was stationed at the bow to 
watch for danger, and to give and answer signals, 
and the third was near the center of the boat to 
take charge of the sail, to direct the men at the 
oars, to keep a good lookout for objects on shore, 
and to select the landing places, establish guards, 
and reconnoiter in the woods surrounding the 
camp. Each of the three, too, was required to 
keep a separate journal in which to note what 
took place during the day, and what of unusual 
interest he observed in the water, on the land, and 
in the sky. 


96 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Every day had its incidents of unusual interest. 
The swiftness of the current wheeled the bateau 
about, broke her towline and nearly upset her. 
Every one jumped into the water on the upper 
side and held her, while swimmers carried a new 
line to shore. The hunters brought in deer and 
reported seeing buffaloes. Canoes loaded with 
furs and skins from hundreds of miles up the 
river, bound for St. Louis, passed them. A raft 
carrying bearskins came down the river with a 
crew of one Frenchman, one Indian, and a squaw, 
who said that letters sent to the Indians up the 
river announcing that the country had been trans- 
ferred to the Americans had been burned, and 
that the Indians refused to believe the report. 
Hunters sent out from the boats reported seeing 
signs of the passing of Indians, evidently on the 
warpath. The boats passed ledges of projecting 
rocks on which curious figures were painted by 
the Indians, all of which were explained by Drouil- 
lard, who was familiar with the river as far as to 
the Mandans. The camp was pitched one night in 
a den of rattlesnakes, and before they were de- 
stroyed several of the company were badly bitten. 
All these and scores of other happenings bore the 
charm of novelty to all the men of the expedition, 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 


97 


but particularly to George Shannon, the boy of the 
company. 

Every day a detail of hunters was sent out into 
the country with instructions to report at noon or 
at night. The arrival of the hunters was always 
a matter of keen interest, for seldom did they re- 
turn without a load of bear or deer or small game. 

Among the hunters George Shannon made a 
record as a good shot and, being the youngest of 
the party and the least able to endure the fatigue 
of constant service at the oars, was often detailed 
for these hunting expeditions. He loved to go 
with Drouillard, who had traveled up and down 
the Missouri scores of times, and knew all the best 
places for game, as well as the habits of animals, 
some of which were strange to a boy reared in 
Ohio. Deer were plentiful. At almost any time 
they could be seen from the boats, standing knee- 
deep in the water. Buffaloes were becoming more 
and more numerous, and it was Shannon’s great 
ambition to bring down one of these monarchs of 
the plains. 

An interesting and important accession to the 
ranks of the little company was made about a 
month after the expedition started, when two 
rafts loaded with furs were met coming down the 


98 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


river in charge of a party, one of whom was 
Peter Dorion, an old Frenchman who had lived 
for twenty years with the Sioux Indians far up 
the Missouri. The captains prevailed on old 
Dorion to join them with a view to getting some 
of the Sioux chiefs, when they should reach the 
Sioux country, to go with him on a visit to their 
new Great Father,’’ the President of the United 
States. 

As yet few Indians had been seen. At this time 
of the year, June and July, they were on the 
prairies hunting the buffaloes. Scouts and mes- 
sengers were from time to time sent out by the 
captains, generally under the direction of Drouil- 
lard, to visit the Indian villages, and invite the 
Indians to come for a conference, but always the 
messengers came back with the information that 
the villages were deserted, and that the Indians 
were on the prairies engaged in the hunt. 

The first opportunity for a close observation of 
the Indians was early in August, over two months 
and a half after the expedition set sail. A party 
of Ottawas and Missouris, with a French inter- 
preter who lived with them, numbering among 
them six chiefs, came to the camp one day at night- 
fall, bringing watermelons as presents. The next 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 


99 


day the captains put up their mainsail on land for 
an awning, and under it the Indians took their 
stand. Then all of the men of the expedition 
paraded before them, and Captain Lewis deliv- 
ered a speech, telling the red men what he had set 
out to do, advising them of the change of govern- 
ment, and informing them as to how their ‘ ‘ Great 
Father ^ ^ wished them to conduct themselves. The 
chiefs then made speeches, promising to follow the 
advice, and saying they were happy to know their 
new Father was one on whom they could depend. 
Captain Lewis then gave the chiefs a medal and 
a flag and some clothes, bidding them take them 
to the principal chief of their nation, who had not 
come with them. He then gave the six chiefs 
lesser medals and, in addition, a canister of pow- 
der and a bottle of whisky, together with breech- 
cloths and some paint. The captain then had the 
swivel gun fired, at which the eyes of the red men 
opened wide with astonishment. 

About this time two members of the party de- 
serted. La Liberty, a Frenchman, who had been 
sent to the Ottawa village to invite the Ottawas 
and Missouris to the conference just described, and 
Moses B. Keed, one of the soldiers, who had, the 
day after the conference with the Indians, asked 
LUfC, 


100 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


to be allowed to return to camp and get a knife 
he had left, and had failed to return. Captain 
Lewis detailed Drouillard, Bratton, Labiche, and 
Kichard Fields to go back to the Ottawa village 
and find the two men, with instructions to bring 
them, if found, to the Omaha village farther up 
the river, near which the expedition was to make 
camp. 

When within three miles of the Omaha village 
the expedition went into camp, and George Shan- 
non, with four others, was sent with a flag and 
some tobacco into the village to invite the Indians 
to a conference on the next day; but the party 
returned, saying that the Indians were out on a 
buffalo hunt, and that the village was deserted. 

Drouillard informed the captains that the 
Omahas were not greatly attached to their village, 
because, about four years before, hundreds of their 
people had been swept away by the smallpox, lead- 
ing them to burn their village, put many of their 
wives and children to death, and take up a wan- 
dering life, but not before they had buried, sitting 
upright on his horse, their great chief. Blackbird, 
who was one of the victims of the dread dis- 
ease. 

While at this camp eleven of the men made a 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 


101 


seine out of willows and bark and, hauling it up a 
creek, caught three hundred and eighteen fish, 
including pike, bass, salmon, perch, red horse, and 
small cat. On another day twelve of the men 
caught upwards of eight hundred fish. 

While here the party sent after the deserters 
returned with Reed, but without La Liberty, who 
had got away. With them came also the three 
principal chiefs of the Ottawas, to ask their new- 
found friends to help them make peace with the 
Omahas. 

The next day the Indians and the Americans 
gathered together in the shade of a great tree near 
the boat, and Reed was put on trial. The fellow 
confessed that he had deserted after stealing a 
rifle and some powder and ball. His sentence was 
that he run the gauntlet three times, and that each 
man of the party, with nine switches, should inflict 
the punishment; also that, from that time on, he 
should not be considered as one of the members of 
the expedition. The three chiefs begged that the 
man be pardoned, but Captain Lewis explained 
how necessary it was that men engaged in such an 
important undertaking should be held to strict 
account. Then, in the presence of the Indians, 
the convicted man, stripped to the waist, three 


102 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


times ran through the double line composed of all 
the men of the expedition. 

The day following, Captain Lewis assembled 
the chiefs, and the nine warriors that accompanied 
them, under an awning and all made speeches. 
Then the captain gave to each chief a medal and to 
the others suitable presents. 

On Captain Lewis ’ birthday, which came at this 
time, the whole party celebrated by engaging in a 
dance. After the dance Sergeant Floyd, heated 
by the exercise, went out and lay upon the ground 
to cool off, and fell asleep. The next morning he 
was taken seriously ill, alarming the entire com- 
pany, and, in the afternoon, after asking Captain 
Lewis to write a letter home for him, and saying, 

I am going away,^’ he died. 

Patrick Gass made a rough coffin, and, attended 
by the entire company, the body of this, the first 
white man who died in the service of his country 
west of the Mississippi, was carried to the top of 
a bluff overlooking the river and buried with all 
the honors of war. Over his grave was erected a 
cedar post, and on it was carved : ^ ^ Sergeant C. 
Floyd, died here on the 20th of August, 1804.^’ 
Captain Lewis made a speech over his grave, 
pointing out the good qualities of the dead soldier, 


UP THE MUDDY MISSOURI 103 

and particularly his firmness and determined res- 
olution to worthily serve his country. Then, as a 
further mark of respect, he named a little river 
that at this point fiowed into the Missouri, Floyd ^s 
River. 

A little later Patrick Gass was elected by the 
votes of the members of the expedition to the 
position of Sergeant. 


CHAPTEE VII 


LOST IN THE WILDEENESS 

On Sunday morning, August 26t]i, the men who 
had been sent out from the camp to bring in the 
horses came back late and reported they could 
not be found. The report surprised no one, for the 
tough little animals had a way of taking matters 
into their own control and straying away from the 
camp at night. At such times it usually became 
necessary for the boats to move on, leaving a 
searching party to look for the horses and, after 
finding them, to follow after. On this occasion 
George Shannon approached Captain Lewis and 
begged the privilege of being detailed to make the 
search. 

But not alone, said the captain. We are 
approaching the Sioux country, and must be on 
our guard. 

‘‘ Then may Drouillard go with me! asked 
the boy. 

Drouillard had made a deep impression on 
Shannon, as the lithe, swarthy Frenchman had 
104 


L08T IN THE WILDERNESS 105 

proven himself to be the keenest hunter and the 
most intelligent guide of the party. He seemed 
to know directions intuitively. Every track in 
the soft earth and every broken twig and blade of 
grass told a story to him. While he could not 
speak the Indian tongue as readily as many an 
interpreter, he was an expert in the sign language, 
and by his gesticulations could carry on an ex- 
tended conversation with any Indian, no matter 
what his tribe or tongue. 

Shannon had gone out with Drouillard the day 
before, and shot a fine bear. The boy was elated 
over his prize and over the compliment the 
Frenchman had paid him. Now, in the loss of the 
horses he saw another opportunity of spending a 
day with the swarthy hunter in the woods, and he 
eagerly seized it. 

Captain Lewis gladly acceded to the request, 
for Drouillard never went into the woods without 
bringing back fresh meat, and it was the captain’s 
desire not to draw upon his stores of dried meats 
so long as fresh meat could be obtained. 

“ Very well. Shannon. You and Drouillard look 
for the horses. Follow the river, keep on the high 
ground, and join us at the camp to-night. The 
current is heavy at this point, and we shall make 


106 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


slow progress to-day. Our camp will not be over 
seven miles np the river when night falls. Good- 
bye, and good luck to you. ’ ^ 

Happy in the prospect of speedily finding the 
horses, and then of having a day’s hunt. Shannon 
hurried to Drouillard and repeated the captain’s 
words. The guide was as much pleased with the 
arrangement as was Shannon, and immediately 
got his gun, ammunition, and game pouch. Then, 
as the boats pushed out into the stream, and the 
rowers bent to their oars for another pull against 
the current, the two hunters struck off into the 
woods, full of pleasant anticipations for the day. 

Nothing pleased the French hunter so much as 
a day in the woods. An hour at the oars tired him 
more than a day’s tramp over the hills, carrying 
his trusty rifle and many pounds of deer or buf- 
falo. He was glad, too, of the company of young 
Shannon. He liked the boy’s enthusiasm, his zeal 
for knowledge, and his ambition to acquire skill in 
the hunt. Indeed, the old hunter prophesied that 
before the expedition was over, George Shan- 
non would lead them all in ability to handle the 
rifle. 

For several hours the two men gave their undi- 
vided attention to the finding of the two horses. 


LOST IN THE WILDERNESS 107 

For a time they were able to follow their trail, but 
a shower having fallen in the night, it was soon 
lost, and not a scar upon the rocks or a broken 
twig gave evidence of where the animals had 
strayed. Starting from the point where they saw 
the last print of a hoof, the two hunters made 
incursions in every direction, intently studying 
the ground, but always coming back to the same 
point with a story of failure. Near midday they 
sat down to rest under the bough of a great oak. 
After some moments of silence Shannon turned to 
Drouillard and said : 

Tell me about the Sioux. I have heard they 
are a powerful nation.’’ 

The Sioux,” replied the hunter, pronouncing 
the name as if spelled See-oo, are divided into 
many families, including the Mandans, Kaws, 
Crows, Minnetarees, Omahas, Ottawas, and others. 
The family, as a whole, occupy a wide stretch of 
country extending from the Canadian boundary 
nearly to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Lake Mich- 
igan to the Eocky Mountains. Formerly the 
Sioux lived east of the Mississippi, but they grad- 
ually worked their way west. 

^ ^ The Sioux living on this part of the Missouri 
are known as the Dakotas, and number some eight 


108 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


or nine thousand. They are great rovers and war- 
riors, and are constantly fighting. 

^ ‘ There is a peculiar society among them made 
up of brave young men who are attached to one 
another by a vow never to retreat before a danger 
or give way to an enemy. In war they never seek 
shelter. A little while ago, when a party of these 
young fellows were crossing the Missouri on the 
ice, they found a hole immediately in their course. 
They could easily have gone around it but, instead, 
they marched straight ahead into the water and 
were drowned. Another story will' show you 
something of their foolhardiness. In a battle with 
the Crows on the Yellowstone River, out of twenty 
warriors who belonged to this society but four 
came out of the battle alive, and these had to be 
dragged away by other Indians. In camp they 
will not associate with the other Indians, but set 
up their tepees apart from them. ’ ’ 

Are the Sioux friendly to the whites? ’’ asked 
Shannon. 

^ ^ In the main they are. They like to trade with 
the British who come down from the lake country. 
The Indians in this neighborhood also carry on 
quite a trade with the French traders who come 
up the river from St. Louis. They exchange the 


LOST IN THE WILDERNESS 


109 


skins of the beaver, wolf, buffalo, bear, and deer, 
for guns, ammunition, and whisky. In another ten 
days we shall be among the Teton Sioux, who are 
a cunning and bloodthirsty lot. They, too, are 
great rovers, and it will be well to be on the look- 
out for them. But if we are to find those horses 
we must be going. Let us separate. You go up 
along the bluff, keeping close to the river, and I 
will strike farther back into the country. Be 
careful, and remember to meet me at the river by 
sundown. ^ ’ 

The two hunters then wished each other good 
luck, shouldered their rifies, and struck out in op- 
posite directions. 

Drouillard continued his search without suc- 
cess during the remainder of the day, and at night- 
fall bent his steps toward the river, at the same 
time firing his gun at frequent intervals and hal- 
looing to attract the attention of Shannon, whom 
he supposed to be, like himself, at some point on 
the river bank. Hearing no shot in answer to his 
own, he kept on up the shore, stopping from time 
to time with ear to the ground for the sound of a 
crackling branch, a shout, or the distant report of 
a gun. After searching for his companion through 
the greater part of the night, Drouillard came in 


110 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


sight of the camp, where he found, with some sur- 
prise and alarm, that Shannon had not been seen 
since morning. 

Captain Lewis was much worried when wakened 
and told of the non-appearance of the boy, but 
after closely questioning Drouillard he wrapped 
himself in his. buffalo robe and lay down again to 
sleep, assured that the young hunter would turn 
up before daybreak. 

For some hours after leaving Drouillard, Shan- 
non wandered through the forest, keeping a keen 
lookout for signs of the horses, but more inter- 
ested in the game that abounded on all sides. 
From the tops of hills he could see, grazing in the 
distance, countless thousands of buffaloes. Deer 
and antelopes sped from the bushes, startled at his 
approach. Babbits and other small game sprang 
across his path. 

Interested in everything he saw, the boy was 
not conscious of time till the sun had dropped 
down behind the hills, and night was coming on. 
He had not found the horses. It did not occur to 
him that perhaps Drouillard had found them. It 
would not do to return without them. His repu- 
tation with the camp was at stake. A moment’s 
thought showed him that it was too late to make 


LOST IN THE WILDERNESS 


111 


camp, so he determined to remain out all night 
and in the morning renew his search. Certainly, 
the boats would not go far during another day, 
and by rapid travel he could catch up with them. 
He had food in his pouch, and there was no lack 
of wild game. So, making a fire from the dry 
twigs and grass on the edge of a little wood, he 
cooked a rabbit which, with a few dried biscuits 
from his pouch and grapes and plums gathered by 
the way, made an excellent supper. Then, laying 
himself down in a bed of leaves, he slept through 
the night, with scarcely a thought of danger. 

Early the next morning, after a hasty break- 
fast from the remains of his supper, the young 
hunter started out again in search of the straying 
horses, following a little stream that wound its 
way up among low hills, lined on both sides by 
dense forests of oak and elm. 

Scarcely had he proceeded half a mile before 
prints of horses’ hoofs became visible in the soft 
turf near the water’s edge. The horses had been 
to the stream for a drink, and then had gone up 
the valley following its course. 

With a light heart the boy set out on a run, 
exultant in the thought that he, and not Drouil- 
lard, had found the animals. Already he felt the 


112 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


pride that would be his when, on returning to 
camp, he should find Drouillard returned empty- 
handed, and himself the hero of the day. 

A few hundred yards beyond the point at which 
he first found the hoof-prints, he came up with 
the horses, quietly grazing on the banks of the 
stream. Securing them, he took his way down the 
valley, feeling sure that the little current emptied 
into the Missouri, and that in a few hours, at 
farthest, he would be among his friends. An 
hour ^s walk brought him in sight of the great cur- 
rent, and there he waited, thinking he had got 
ahead of the boats and that they would soon come 
along. For several hours he amused himself 
examining a beaver dam and village near the 
mouth of the creek he had followed. Then, hitch- 
ing one of the horses to a sapling, he rode back 
into the country to the brow of a hill, from which 
he knew he must get a view of the river for a long 
distance both up and down its course. On reaching 
his destination, he saw with some anxiety that not 
a speck appeared on the surface of the Missouri, 
that stretched away for miles in both directions. 

It now occurred to him that he had been wasting 
his ammunition. With a mind sobered by the re- 
flection that he was alone in the great wilderness 


L08T IN THE WILDERNESS 113 

and that there was little left between him and 
starvation, he hurried back to the river. On the 
way he came upon footprints. Examining them 
carefully, he concluded they were the tracks of 
members of his own party and, as they pointed up 
the stream, he felt sure that the boats had passed 
and that, in order for him to overtake them, he 
must set out at once and travel with all speed. 
Securing the horses and mounting one of them, he 
pushed them into a gallop, anxious to cover as 
much of the distance as possible before night. 

At every bend of the river he stopped and 
strained his eyes through the coming darkness for 
the light of a campfire, but none appeared. Again 
he must cook his own supper and bivouac before 
his own fire until another day should give him the 
opportunity to push on. That morning he had 
started out singing a rollicking Irish song, but 
now, as he laid his head upon the pillow of turf 
beside the dying embers of his campfire and lis- 
tened to the distant howling of wolves and the 
queer, plaintive notes of the night birds in the 
branches above him, he grasped his rifle closer 
with a dread of impending evil. Surely,’’ he 
thought, they will know that I have lost my 
way; they will send men out to find me. Drouil- 


114 THE BOY PATHFINDER 

lard will not rest until he knows what has become 
of me/^ For the first time since he had left his 
home in Pittsburg, he realized the seriousness of 
the business on which he was engaged. For the 
first time he remembered, with a keen appreciation 
of her love and fidelity, his mother in her Ohio 
home. ‘ ^ But, ’ ^ he said to himself, ‘ ‘ I am not lost. 
My friends are near. They are but a few miles 
away. Another day will bring me to them. ’ ’ Then 
he felt in his bullet pouch, to realize again that he 
had been prodigal of his ammunition and that, 
between him and the game necessary to stay the 
ravages of hunger, were but a few bullets and a 
mite of powder. 

The morning found the lad fresh and invig- 
orated, and, again astride of one of the horses, 
pushing on up the river. At times he rested be- 
neath some great tree to give the horses a chance 
to nibble at the grass and to gather for himself 
some wild berries and take his reckoning. He had 
long since lost track of the footprints in the earth, 
but still he must keep on, for he was certain the 
boats had passed on up the river. Several times 
it occurred to him that the footprints might h,ave 
been those of Indians, and yet the moccasins worn 
by some of the men of his own party were such as 


LOST IN TEE WILDERNESS 115 

those worn by the Indians, and the red man’s 
manner of travel was much the same as that of the 
French hunter and riverman. 

Another day came. With fevered spirit he 
urged the horses all day long to their utmost 
speed, and again at night he flung himself upon 
the ground, tired, hungry, and anxious, lest after 
all his comrades had forgotten him. 

Another day, and his ammunition was gone. He 
was so weak now he could scarcely sit astride his 
horse. What if he should be attacked by wolves 
or a bear ? Several times he had narrowly escaped 
an encounter with these savage beasts of the 
forest. He had yet a little of the flesh of a deer 
that he had killed with his last bullet. He de- 
termined to make that go as far as possible. 
There were wild grapes and several species of yel- 
low and red plums in abundance. These would 
prevent, for a time, his starving. 

Shannon was no coward, but the solitude of the 
forest, the strange and unusual sounds about him, 
the uncertainty of his own whereabouts and that 
of his friends, the knowledge that his ammunition 
was gone, the weakness of his body and the fever 
in his brain, filled him with fear. Then, too, the 
horses were giving out. One of them, in the de- 


116 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


scent of a hill, had lost its footing and sprained a 
leg. This delayed his progress. The fourth morn- 
ing found the horse’s leg so swollen that the poor 
beast was unable to proceed, so the boy abandoned 
it, and pushed on with the remaining horse. 

Thus, day after day, for five, six, seven days, 
the young pathfinder, growing weaker with every 
hour, and losing hope as the hours lengthened 
themselves into days, went on, some days covering 
but a few miles. 

His rifle was now useless, for his bullets were 
gone, though a little powder remained. Scarcely 
could he mount his horse, so weak had he become. 
To make matters worse, a cold, drizzling rain set 
in, wetting him to the skin and freezing the little 
blood in his veins. His face had grown gaunt and 
haggard. His clothing had been torn by the briers 
and his moccasins cut from his feet by the sharp 
rocks. His remaining horse, too, was well-nigh 
exhausted. 

At last one day he threw himself, exhausted, 
under a shelf of rocks. Here, crazed by the gnaw- 
ings of hunger, and taunted by the gambols of the 
small game that ran fearlessly about him 
seemingly conscious of his weakness, he cut with 
his knife a slender piece of hardwood, pointed it 


L08T IN THE WILDERNESS 


117 


at the end and, thrusting it into the barrel of his 
rifle against a load of powder, rested the weapon 
upon a stump and took a long aim at a rabbit that 
sat upon his haunches a few yards away, as if 
inviting a shot. The boy’s hands trembled, but 
the stick went straight to the mark. With a feeble 
cry of joy he struggled to his feet and rushed for 
his prize. Scarcely could he wait to cook it. 
Warming the flesh above a fire of twigs, he tore it 
into pieces and devoured it with the frenzy of a 
starving man. The next day and the next, wild 
grapes and berries were his only sustenance. 
Then, driven to despair, he decided to kill the re- 
maining horse; but he would not do so just 
yet. He would wait one more day. The 
animal had been faithful. It was like killing 
a friend. No one but a crazy man could do such 
a deed. 

At nightfall of the sixteenth day, totally dis- 
couraged, he gave up all hopes of overtaking the 
boats and, dragging himself to the river bank, 
threw himself down to watch for the boat of some 
trader or Indian that might, perchance, happen 
by. He had been too weak to climb the hills for 
several days, and had made his way painfully and 
slowly along the water’s edge, whence his view of 


118 THE BOY FATEFINDER 

the river was obstructed by the bushes and the 
trees. 

An hour he lay there, thinking of his father who 
had lost himself in the forest and died there alone. 
Was this to be his fate, too? A sound rolled over 
the water. It was the swivel gun! There could 
be no mistake! Now he knew that he was safe. 
Soon he would be with his friends and comrades. 
The little blood in his body sprang into life. He 
tried to call, but his voice was hollow and scarcely 
more than a breath. Tears welled into his eyes. 
His faithful comrade, his horse, was grazing 
quietly by his side. They were both to be saved ! 
He staggered to his feet, ''and putting his arms 
about the neck of the faithful animal, he talked to 
it as he would to a brother. 

He could not answer the signal gun. His rifle 
was useless. He could not shout. He could only 
wait and watch with burning eyes for the ap- 
proach of the bateau with the loved flag of his 
country at the masthead. 

At last the red pirogue, manned by the French- 
men, rounded a bend in the river below. He had 
been ahead of the boats all this time! On, on 
came the red pirogue ! The boy stood gaunt and 
pale, supporting himself against a ledge of rock. 



He crept to the river’s edg-e and waded knee-deep into the 

stream. — Page 119. 




^ J 










A 


,*• ^ - 



.* • - • 


‘v 




-. * ■ 






i' > 






» ^ « 




.«> » 





; 


''■? 


■ \ 




-V-Jl • 

"I'Wr- 


♦ ^ 







I 


» ^ 


.4,- 






» * 


L 




v/^:ei • ; ' -T 

‘.y:' ■ ':' 


^ x\ 


>• « 



. A 




.A— 









^1 


•» i 


I _ 


'4 ’ 


vr ^ 




n # -■* 


> . 



■ V 


.1 - 


trZ 









i I 



« .^.*« * 
4 .* < 



I 4 




« i^ar d 


L08T IN THE WILDERNESS 119 

He was waving his cap like a drunken man. A 
shout went up from the boat. They had seen him ! 
Weak with joy, he crept to the river’s edge and 
waded knee-deep into the stream. The moments 
to him now seemed hours as the pirogue swung to 
the shore. He felt himself lifted by strong, loving 
arms. Then he knew nothing more until Captain 
Lewis, overcome with joy, seized him in his arms 
and called him by name. 

The song of George Shannon floated out as 
usual at break of day when the following morning 
the sails stretched before a favoring breeze, and 
the boats continued their way against the Mis- 
souri’s muddy current. 


CHAPTER VIII 


A VISIT TO THE SIOUX INDIANS 

When Shannon learned that during his sixteen 
days^ absence the party had been visited by a large 
company of Indians, he was greatly disappointed. 
He felt that he had not only suffered in reputation 
by having lost himself in the woods, and that, too, 
through a disregard of the injunction of his com- 
mander, but he had missed the first opportunity of 
seeing a band of Indians of any importance that 
had presented itself in the four months since the 
expedition started up the Missouri. 

Shannon got the story from one of the men: 
At four 0 ’clock one morning, the captains ordered 
their men to set fire to the prairie grass as a signal 
to the Indians that there were persons who wanted 
to confer with them. Soon an Indian was seen 
swimming out to the boats. Captain Lewis 
ordered one of the pirogues to take him in. Two 
other Indians appeared shortly after who said 
that a large company of Sioux were encamped 
near by. Captain Lewis then sent Sergeant 
120 


A VISIT TO THE SIOUX INDIANS 121 

Pryor and two men to invite the band to come 
to a conference. When the sergeant returned he 
was attended by five chiefs and about seventy men 
and boys, among them a Frenchman, the son of 
Peter Dorion. 

After taking the men on board, the captains sent 
a boat with young Dorion and Sergeant Pryor to 
carry to the Indians a present of tobacco, corn, and 
kettles, and to tell them that they would speak to 
the chiefs the next morning. The Indian camp 
was some twelve miles from the river, and when 
Pryor reached there the Indians spread out on the 
ground before him a buffalo robe, indicating that 
they wished to carry him into the camp in state, 
but he refused, saying that he was not the leader of 
the party. Then they set before him a fat dog, 
already cooked, and he ate heartily of it, and said 
it tasted good. 

The Sioux were found to live in lodges shaped 
like cones and covered with buffalo robes painted 
with various figures. Each lodge or tent was big 
enough for ten or fifteen persons. 

The next morning the chiefs and warriors ap- 
peared, and at noon, under a large oak tree, from 
which a flag of the United States was set flying. 
Captain Lewis delivered a speech, and gave 


122 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


presents. To tlie head chief he gave a flag, a 
medal, a certificate of friendship, a string of wam- 
pum, a richly laced uniform of a United States 
artilleryman, a cocked hat and a red feather. 
Suitable presents were given, also, to the inferior 
chiefs, and all smoked the pipe of peace. Then the 
chiefs retired to a little bower formed of bushes, 
where they divided among themselves the presents, 
and considered what they should say in reply to 
the captains. In the meantime the young men and 
boys shot at marks with their bows and arrows for 
beads which Captain Lewis offered as prizes for 
the best marksmanship. In the evening every- 
body danced to the rattling of a drum made from 
buffalo hide containing pebbles. 

Early the following day, when all had taken 
their seats and smoked the pipe of peace, the head 
chief, whose name in English meant English 
Shake Hand, arose. 

‘‘ I see before me,’’ he said, ‘‘ my Great Father’s 
two sons. You see me and the rest of our chiefs 
and warriors. We are very poor. We have 
neither powder nor ball nor knives, and our women 
and children at the village have no clothes. I wish 
that as my brothers have given me a flag and a 
medal they would give something to those poor 


A VISIT TO THE SIOUX INDIANS 123 

people, or let them stop and trade with the first 
boat that comes up the river. I will bring the 
chiefs of the Pawnees and the Omahas together, 
and make peace between them ; and it is better that 
I should do it than my Great Father’s son, for they 
will listen to me more readily. I will also take 
some chiefs to your country in the spring, but 
before that time I cannot leave home. I went 
formerly to the English, and they gave me a medal 
and some clothes ; when I went to the Spanish they 
gave me a medal, but nothing to keep it from my 
skin ; now you give me a medal and clothes. But 
still we are poor, and I wish, brothers, you would 
give us something for our squaws.” 

When he sat down. White Crane arose. 

I have listened,” said he, to what our Great 
Father’s words were yesterday, and I am to-day 
glad to see how you have dressed our old chief. I 
am a young man, and do not wish to talk much. 
My fathers have made me a chief. I had much 
sense before, but now I think I have more than 
ever. What the old chief has said I will confirm, 
and do whatever he and you please, but I wish that 
you would take pity on us, for we are very poor.” 

Then another chief arose : 

‘ ^ I am a young man and know but little. I can- 


124 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


not speak well, but I have listened to what you 
have told the old chief, and will do whatever you 
agree. ’ ’ 

Others followed in a similar strain, promising 
to make peace with the Ottawas and the Missouris 
with whom they were then at war. All ended their 
speeches by telling of their distress, and begging 
for powder and ball and their Great Father’s milk, 
by which they meant whisky. Then, after giving 
more presents and leaving with them Peter 
Dorion, the interpreter, who was to induce as 
many of the chiefs as possible to accompany him 
to Washington, to visit the Great Father, the 
President, the expedition proceeded on its way. 

Shannon’s curiosity was now fully aroused, and 
as he was led to believe that they were rapidly ap- 
proaching the camp of the Teton Sioux, he spent 
much of his time when not on duty learning all he 
could of this powerful tribe. 

He had not long to wait, for in a few days the 
soldier who was following the boats with the one 
horse reported that Indians had stolen the horse. 
It was not long before the boats came up with five 
Indians who were walking along the shore, and a 
parley took place. The white men told the Indians 
that they were their friends, and wished to con- 


A VISIT TO THE SIOUX INDIANS 125 

tinue so, but that they were not afraid of Indians, 
and that some of their young men had stolen the 
horse which their Great Father had sent to their 
great chief, and that they would not speak with 
their chiefs until the horse was restored. The 
Indians declared that they had not taken the horse, 
and reported that their camp was two miles up the 
river. The party then proceeded to land and 
make camp, while Captain Lewis sent Drouillard 
and another to the village to invite the chiefs to a 
conference. 

On the next morning the captains raised a flag- 
staff upon the shore, made an awning from the 
sail, and here the chiefs and warriors of the 
Tetons to the number of sixty gathered to smoke 
the pipe of peace. At the same time the men in 
the boats, which were anchored about seventy 
yards out in the stream, stood ready to act if the 
Indians showed signs of doing any mischief. 

Peter Dorion, who had acted as the Sioux inter- 
preter, had been left with the Yankton Sioux be- 
low, so that Drouillard, who knew comparatively 
little of the Teton language but was an expert at 
the sign language, acted as interpreter. The great 
chief ^s name was Black Buffalo, and under him 
were many inferior chiefs. They brought as a 


126 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


present great quantities of meat, some of which 
was spoiled, and therefore, as the Indians thought, 
the more acceptable. 

After parading his men, and making a speech. 
Captain Lewis invited the chiefs on hoard, showed 
them over the boat, shot off the swivel gun, and 
gave to each of them a quarter of a glass of 
whisky. This last favor pleased them so much 
that they danced about in great glee, asking for 
more, and even sucking the empty bottle. 

The captains soon found they had their hands 
full getting rid of their half-tipsy guests, who had 
now remained on hoard some three hours. Order- 
ing up a pirogue. Captain Clark with five men set 
the Indians on shore ; but no sooner had the party 
landed than three of the red men seized the cable 
of the pirogue in which were presents for the 
Indians, while one of the Indians jumped aboard 
and threw his arms about the mast. Some de- 
manded more presents. One fellow who pre- 
tended to be drunk, staggering against Captain 
Clark, said: I will not let you go. You have 

not given me enough.’’ 

Captain Clark replied: ‘‘You cannot prevent 
us; we are no squaws, but warriors. We were 
sent by our Great Father, and we have medicine 


A VISIT TO THE SIOUX INDIANS 127 


on board that can kill twenty such nations as you 
are in one day. ’ ’ 

We, too, have warriors,’’ answered Black 
Buffalo threateningly. For answer Captain Clark 
drew his sword, and signaled to Captain Lewis and 
the men in the bateau. At once, the Indians who 
were pressing about, drew arrows from their 
quivers, and were just bending their bows when 
the swivel gun was pointed toward them, and 
twelve of the boat’s best men jumped into the 
other pirogue and started for shore. 

^ ‘ Go away, ’ ’ said the great chief sternly, with a 
gesture directed toward the young warriors who 
were holding the cable of the pirogue. At this 
Captain Clark stepped forward, and offered his 
hand to the two principal chiefs, but they refused 
to take it. Then, turning about, he entered the 
pirogue, and ordered his men to push out from 
land. Scarcely had the boat got twenty feet away 
when four of the Indians, including two chiefs, 
plunged into the stream, and asked to be taken in. 
Captain Clark let them come aboard, and the 
pirogue proceeded a mile up the river and 
anchored. 

The next day the Indians made excuses for their 
bad behavior and begged that their squaws and 


128 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


cMldren be given a chance to see the white men 
sent by the Great Father, and their great boat and 
air gun. Captain Lewis did not want the ill-will 
of the Tetons so, pushing on up the river, he 
landed before their village, where a great crowd 
of men, women, and children were waiting. The 
two captains went on shore with some of their 
men. Shannon among the number. Here they 
were met by eight young Indians, dressed in the 
most fantastic manner, who took up each of the 
captains in turn and carried him on a painted 
buffalo robe to a large council house, where they 
gave them seats by the side of the great chief. 

The council room formed three-quarters of a cir- 
cle. Its covering and sides were dressed skins 
sewed together. The two captains and their body- 
guard, sitting with the chiefs, faced seventy 
painted faces. In front of the chiefs was the pipe 
of peace, resting on two forked sticks a few inches 
from the ground, while under it was scattered the 
down of a swan. A Spanish and an American flag 
stood in the midst of the lodge. Nearby was a 
large fire over which some four hundred pounds 
of buffalo meat was cooking. 

After speeches were made the great chief took 
some of the most delicate parts of a cooked dog 


A VISIT TO THE SIOUX INDIANS 129 


and held them up to the flag. Then he took the pipe 
of peace and pointed it first toward the heavens, 
then to north, south, east, and west, then to the 
earth, and, after lighting it, presented it to the 
visitors. The captains then made speeches and 
the chief addressed the people. Following came a 
feast of butfalo meat, dried, and mixed raw with 
grease, dainty bits of dog, and ground potatoes, all 
of which were eaten from platters by means of 
horn spoons. 

During the feast Shannon started out for a 
tour of the village, followed by a crowd of women 
and children, among them some twenty-five women 
whom the band had captured some two weeks be- 
fore from their enemies, the Omahas. This he re- 
ported to Captain Lewis later, and the captain 
made the chiefs promise to send the women back 
and make peace. With the greatest difficulty the 
boy prevented the young Indians from stealing his 
rifle, his knife, and his ammunition. Drouillard 
had told him that the Sioux were great pilferers, 
so he was on his guard. He found the lodges into 
which he peered filthy, and the Indians themselves 
the dirtiest lot of people he had ever seen. Mak- 
ing signs that he wanted a drink of water, some 
was offered him in the pouch of an animal which 


130 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


had never been cleaned. Disgusted, he returned 
to the council house just as the feast was ending. 

After dark everything was cleared away for a 
dance. A large fire burning in the center of 
the council gave light and heat. Twelve men 
made up the orchestra. The instruments were 
tambourines, formed of skin, stretched across a 
hoop, long sticks, to which were fastened hoofs of 
the deer, and skin bags containing pebbles or shot. 

The first performance was by the women, who 
came in highly decorated, some with poles in their 
hands on which hung the scalps of their enemies, 
others with guns, spears, or scalplocks taken in 
war by the men. After arranging themselves 
about the fire in a dense crowd, numbering about 
seventy, they shuffled forward until they were in 
the center, when, shaking their rattles and shout- 
ing, they shuffled back to their places. 

In the pauses of the dance, warriors came for- 
ward and recited stories of their brave deeds, 
whereupon the orchestra and the dancers took up 
the stories and sang them, dancing, and beating 
their drums and rattles all the while. After the 
women had concluded their dance, the men took up 
the performance, jumping up and down, shouting 
and gesticulating wildly. 


A VISIT TO THE SIOUX INDIANS 131 


One of the musicians, thinking that he had not 
received his share of the tobacco distributed early 
in the evening, got angry and broke one of the 
drums, threw two of them into the fire, and rushed 
out of the company. 

At midnight the white men informed the Indians 
that they would not ask them to tire themselves 
further, and returned to their boats accompanied 
by four of the chiefs, who asked the privilege of 
remaining on board all night. 

This had been Shannon's first opportunity to 
observe the western Indians, and the impression 
made upon him was unfavorable, for they were 
ugly and ill-shaped, with legs and arms too small 
for their bodies, cheekbones high, and eyes pro- 
truding. They appeared to be cunning and 
vicious. The men wore no hair upon their heads 
excepting a small tuft upon the top, which they 
permitted to grow long and wore in plaits over 
their shoulders. The chiefs and the most im- 
portant of the warriors fastened into this tuft an 
eaglets feather. Their faces and bodies were 
painted with a mixture of grease and coal. Over 
the shoulders was worn a loose mantle of dressed 
buffalo skin, adorned with porcupine quills, which 
made a jingling noise when the warrior moved. 


132 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


This mantle was painted with uncouth figures. 
Under it was worn a kind of shirt made of skin or 
cloth, covering the arms and the body. Around 
the loins a girdle of cloth or dressed elk-skin was 
worn, while the leg from the hip to the ankle was 
covered by leggings of dressed antelope skins with 
seams at the side, ornamented by little tufts of 
hair from scalps taken in war. This being a great 
occasion, each of the young men dragged after him 
the entire skin of a polecat fixed to the heel of one 
of his moccasins. Another skin of the same 
animal was in some cases tucked into the girdle, or 
carried in the hand, serving as a pouch for tobacco 
or what served for tobacco, the inner bark of a 
species of red willow. 

The next day Captain Lewis and the chiefs went 
on shore to see a part of the tribe that had not 
come to the conference on the day before, and in 
the afternoon he returned, bringing with him four 
of the chiefs, and one of the leading warriors, who 
examined the boat with great interest. Then Cap- 
tain Clark accompanied them to the lodge of the 
great chief where, after being joined by Captain 
Lewis, another dance was held. 

About midnight Captain Clark took one of the 
chiefs and a warrior into the pirogue, and in run- 


A VISIT TO THE SIOUX INDIANS 133 


ning up to the keelboat struck the cable attached 
to the anchor, breaking it. The current being 
swift, the signal was given for all hands to spring 
to the oars. The noise alarmed the two Indians, 
who at once called out to their companions, where- 
upon the whole camp of two hundred warriors 
crowded to the shore, believing they were being 
attacked. 

The breaking of the cable had caused the loss 
of the anchor, so it became necessary to fasten the 
keelboat by a line stretched to the shore. The 
next morning when about to start out several of 
the Indians sat on the rope and demanded before 
they let it go that presents be given them. Cap- 
tain Lewis flung a carat of tobacco among them 
and called out : 

‘ ‘ Black Butfalo, you say you are a great chief. 
Prove it by handing me that rope.’’ 

The haughty chief was flattered, and the boat 
swung out into the current, leaving the crowd 
of redskins gazing half wondering, half angry, 
that the palefaces had escaped them so easily. 


CHAPTEE IX 


PBAIRIE DOGS — THE RICKAREES 

The white men were not sorry at parting from 
the Sioux. The most troublesome experience of 
the more than a thousand miles they had now com,e 
had been the one encountered in dealing with these 
wily, treacherous redskins. Had it not been for 
the swivel gun, whose belching mouth roared a 
threat whenever the captains wanted to impress 
the Indians with their power, it might have gone 
hard with the little company, for many of the 
Indians possessed firearms and were skillful in 
their use, while their bows and arrows, in the 
shooting of which they had been trained from 
infancy, usually went true to the mark. Whisky, 
tobacco, paint, and trinkets, but principally the 
two first named, together with the swivel gun, won 
from the savages a sort of friendship, but it was a 
friendship that could easily be turned into some- 
thing the direct opposite. 

The bateau had lost its anchor when the pirogue 
struck the cable on the last night of their stay, and 
134 


PRAIRIE DOGS^THE RICKAREES 


135 


an anchor was a very important thing in the navi- 
gation of a treacherous stream like the Missouri. 
Two heavy stones tied to the cable formed a tem- 
porary anchor, though these, at times, failed to 
hold the boat when, in the swift current, it became 
necessary to prevent its swinging under some 
falling bank or crashing against a submerged 
log. 

Though freed from the main body of the Sioux, 
yet the party found themselves followed by some 
of the Indians, who ran along the shores, keeping 
up with the boats for miles. 

One day, one of the chiefs, running out on a 
sandbar, begged to be taken aboard, saying that he 
wished to go along as far as the country of the 
Eickarees — a two weeks ^ journey up the river. 
The request was granted, and the chief was very 
happy until the boat, in a high wind, became un- 
manageable, struck a submerged tree-trunk and 
came near upsetting, and then he became so 
frightened he hid himself among the boxes and 
bales in the hold of the boat ; no amount of coaxing 
could get him out until the wind had died down and 
the water had become smooth again. 

The Missouri now for some days presented 
numerous obstacles to the easy passage of the 


136 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


boats. The water was shallow, ofttimes spread- 
ing out over a great area. Here it was with the 
utmost difficulty the channel could be found, the 
bateau again and again running aground upon 
sandbars. Then it became necessary to fall back 
down the river and take some other course. 

High, black bluffs skirted the river on one side 
for a long distance, while the ground on the op- 
posite side sloped gradually away into a beautiful 
prairie. These bluffs alternated on the two sides 
of the river, being now on the north and now on the 
south, sometimes rising directly from the water, 
at other times looming up far back into the coun- 
try, showing that at some time the river had 
spread over the intervening area of low, swampy 
land. 

Venturesome Indians frequently called from the 
shore, but seldom did the captains respond, save 
to throw them small quantities of tobacco, which 
usually had no other effect than to make them 
eager for more. 

The land and the water during these days were 
prolific in game of all kinds. At times the hunters 
returned in the evening to report having seen from 
some high ground herd after herd of buffaloes, 
countless in number, roaming over the plains. 


PRAIRIE DOGS— TEE RICKAREES 


137 


Deer and antelope sprang away from the water’s 
edge and hid themselves among the trees at their 
approach. Herds of goats, at times, were seen 
swimming the river ahead of them, and often the 
pirogues came so close upon them that the men 
were able to kill them with their oars. Coyotes 
and wolves, with all manner of night birds, made 
the music to which they went to sleep about the 
camp fires. 

One evening the hunter who had been out during 
the day reported having seen a colony of queer 
little animals that looked like squirrels, but dif- 
fered from them in many ways. 

Prairie dogs,” said one of the guides. 

‘ ^ More like prairie rats, I should say, ’ ’ replied 
the hunter. 

We shall go out to-morrow and see for our- 
selves, ’ ’ said Captain Lewis, always on the lookout 
for a new species of animal. 

You’ll not catch one unless you are quicker 
than I am. Captain,” said the hunter, shaking his 
head doubtfully. They are the slyest critters I 
ever saw, and I’ve seen every animal that crawls 
t’other side the Mississippi.” 

Fast runners, eh! ” mused the captain. 

Runners! No, they’re divers.” 


138 THE BOY PATHFINDER 

Oh, water rats they are! exclaimed the cap- 
tain. 

No, sir, they’re land divers. A rifle bullet is 
not quicker than their movements in diving into 
their holes. ’ ’ 

‘‘ Well, we’ll get one anyway, or my eye has lost 
its cunning. The President must have a prairie 
dog with the rest of the wonders we’ll send him 
when the bateau goes back in the spring. ’ ’ 

The next morning, before the boats pushed out, 
a party started for the prairie-dog village, which 
the hunter of the day before had reported to be 
half a mile up the river. A short, brisk tramp 
brought them to the neighborhood of the village, 
and at once the men separated, intending to come 
upon the colony from different directions and pre- 
vent their escape. One or two of the Frenchmen 
in the party who had hunted and tramped on the 
Missouri laughed at the maneuver, but it seemed 
the natural way to do it — to surround them and 
take them by surprise. 

The company had not been separated long ere a 
curious barking, as from an hundred little throats, 
struck their ears, and peering over the bushes and 
little hillocks behind which they were concealed, 
the hunters saw the objects of their search. 


PRAIRIE DOGS— THE RICKAREES 


139 


There, scattered over many acres of gently rolling 
ground were numberless little mounds of earth, 
like watchtowers, on which, sitting upon their 
haunches like so many pygmy preachers in their 
pulpits, were scores of little yellowish brown 
animals, with tiny ears, fat little pouches, and 
stubby tails, for all the world like diminutive dogs, 
all barking as if they would burst their throats. 

Pop went a rifle and in a fraction of a second 
not a sign of a hair appeared. The earth seemed 
to swallow up the little creatures. Then of a 
sudden their little noses peeped out again, and a 
second time they were gone. The first man to 
show himself was Sergeant Gass. 

‘ ‘ Faith, and now ye see thim, and now ye don’t, ’ ’ 
he cried, as with his gun still smoking he rushed 
forward expecting to find his prize. Holy 
mither I What ’s that ! ” he shouted, jumping into 
the air and cavorting around as if a bee had stung 
him. At the same time a big rattlesnake that had 
been enjoying his morning peep at the sun slid 
noiselessly into a hole behind one of the little 
mounds. ^ ‘ And ye kape house with thim dogs, do 
yez! ” exclaimed Patrick. Bad luck to yez 
both, I say.” 

By this time the entire party gathered about. 


140 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


minutely examining the little mounds of earth, 
many of which were nearly two feet high, though 
having only a small diameter at the base, and 
poking their ramrods into the holes that in every 
case led into the earth at the base of a mound. 

Well, Captain,’’ asked the hunter of the day 
before with a grin, ^ ^ did you get your prairie dog 
for the President? ” 

I would have had one if Gass hadn’t got 
excited,” replied Lewis, laughing. 

At the same time another party ran across a 
rattler, which at once made its escape into one of 
the burrows. 

Is it possible these animals live together? ” 
asked the captain of Drouillard, who was one of 
the party. 

Wherever you find prairie dogs you find 
rattlers,” answered the guide. ‘‘ They enter the 
prairie dogs’ home and eat the young, and then 
turn the old folks out. After a good nap they get 
hungry again, then out they come to choose some 
other burrow and repeat their deviltry. Owls, 
too, make free to take possession of deserted bur- 
rows. There are three kinds of people in a prairie- 
dog village, — rattlers, owls, and the dogs them- 
selves.” 


PBAIBIE DOGS— TEE BICKABEES 


141 


‘‘ This is interesting and something new,’^ re- 
plied the captain, making mental note of what the 
guide was saying in order to write it in his book 
that night on returning to the boats. But I 
must have one of these fellows, dead or alive. 
Here, Shannon, go and get me the longest stick 
you can cut from that tree yonder. We’ll see what 
poking will do. ’ ’ 

Shannon did as ordered, and soon the captain 
was ramming the holes, now this one, now that, 
but never with success. The end of the stick 
when withdrawn showed no evidence of striking 
game. 

‘‘ May I suggest,” said Shannon, that we try 
drowning them out I ’ ’ 

To be sure! Why did I not think of that? 
Go back to camp, some of you men, and, if the 
boats have not left, fill every kettle and bucket 
with water and bring them. We’ll see what Mis- 
souri river water will do.” 

In a half hour the men returned with a great 
variety of utensils brimful of water. Then select- 
ing one hole that gave evidence of having an oc- 
cupant, Captain Lewis himself poured the contents 
of one after another of the vessels into it. 

It has no bottom! ” exclaimed the captain. 


142 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


when the last drop had disappeared, and still the 
hole seemed to yawn for more. 

Yon can’t fetch them that way, Captain,” said 
Dronillard. 

^ ‘ Then I mnst get a shot at one. ’ ’ 

But not in this village. You’ll stay here till 
the river freezes over before you’ll get another 
chance. Even now some little fourfooted sentinel 
is sitting some place around here ready to give the 
alarm if any of his fellow townsmen should be 
foolish enough to stick his nose out.” Then see- 
ing the captain’s incredulous look, he added: 

Oh, they have their guards and sentinels. Look 
there ! ’ ’ Drouillard pointed to a little mound at 
some distance to the west. None but a practiced 
eye could have seen the tiny little figure perched 
upon it, and none but a practiced ear have 
heard the little tweet, tweet,” the sentinel was 
sounding. 

Lewis’s rifle was at his shoulder. He drew it 
down slowly till the sight covered the creature’s 
body and then he fired. 

I have him,” he shouted, running ahead, fol- 
lowed by the entire party. There was a little trail 
of red on the hard packed ground leading into the 
burrow and that was all. 


PRAIRIE DOGS— TEE RICKAREES 143 

“Lost!’’ exclaimed the captain. “This is 
exasperating. ’ ’ 

“I’d like to have all the lead that’s been wasted 
on them pesky fellows, ’ ’ commented Dronillard as 
the party returned to the boats. 

But Shannon did not return with the party. 
He and another had orders to spend the day in 
hunting and join the boat at nightfall. Not satis- 
fied with the failure of the party to get one of the 
strange little animals for a ^ ‘ specimen, ’ ’ which the 
captain wanted. Shannon scouted for an hour about 
the prairie-dog village, hut without so much as 
hearing a sound or getting a glimpse of the wily 
inhabitants. But when about to leave he saw 
ahead of him a reptile crawling toward a burrow 
with what appeared to he a prairie dog in its 
mouth. Oblivious to danger he ran forward and 
planted himself before the snake. In an instant 
the fellow dropped his victim, erected himself on 
his coil and sounded his rattles, while his forked 
tongue played in and out with lightning swiftness. 

Leveling his rifle. Shannon fired and the rat- 
tler’s head flew from its body. Then picking up 
the prairie dog, he examined it closely, put it in 
his game pouch and congratulated himself that he 
was able to present to the captain a specimen of 


144 


THE BVY PATHFINDER 


their discovery. It was the skin and the skeleton 
of this prairie dog that the explorers sent to Wash- 
ington the following spring from the Mandan set- 
tlements far up the Missouri, along with many 
other new and wonderful objects of interest dis- 
covered on the upper Missouri. 

That evening, again, there was a long discus- 
sion over prairie dogs for the benefit of Captain 
Lewis, who was making notes for his diary. 
Drouillard was principal spokesman : 

‘ ^ Prairie dogs are of different kinds, ’ ’ he said. 

The ones in the southern plains have brown 
tails, hut the ones in the north have white ones and 
not so long. Some have the entrance to their 
houses in the tops or sides of their mounds, others 
at the base, like the ones we saw to-day.’’ 

Where do they get the dirt for those 
mounds? ” asked one of the men. 

‘ ^ Out of the hole, of course. They dig and carry 
it out ; then pile it up before the door as nice as a 
human could do it. The prairie dog belongs to 
the same family as the ground squirrel and the 
woodchuck that every boy east of the Mississippi 
knows about.” 

^‘What do they eat?” asked Captain Clark, 
who was an interested listener. 


PRAIRIE DOGE— THE RICKAREE8 145 


The roots of grasses mostly, and berries, and 
seeds. Do you see these pouches? ’’ The speaker 
pointed to the little bags that hung from the 
animaPs cheeks. Some say they fill these with 
food for the winter. I don’t believe it. The 
Indians believe they sleep all winter like the snake. 
You noticed those we saw to-day barked. There 
is another kind that whistles. The French call 
them ‘ siffleurs, ’ or whistlers. ’ ’ 

The party were to become very familiar with 
these little denizens of the prairie now that they 
were in the prairie region, and the antics of the 
little fellows never ceased to amuse and interest 
them. 

In a few days the party were in the country of 
the Eickarees who, Drouillard explained, were a 
tribe of Indians that had lived at one time away 
to the north and east, in the neighborhood of Lake 
Winnipeg. 

They had been driven from their homes in the 
north by the fierce Sioux who, migrating west- 
ward, made war on every tribe they met in their 
advance. Backing, inch by inch, the Eickarees 
had slowly moved up the Missouri, stopping now 
and then to build their fortified villages, only later 
to be driven farther up the river. Some of their 


146 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


deserted villages were seen by the explorers soon 
after they left the Teton Sioux behind them. 

On October 10, 1805, the expedition reached 
the neighborhood of the first of the Eickaree vil- 
lages. It consisted of some sixty lodges, con- 
structed in a manner peculiar to the tribe. Six- 
teen forked poles, five or six feet high, were set 
into the ground in a circle, with poles laid from 
one fork to another. Against these poles other 
poles were placed slanting to the ground. In the 
middle of the area four large forks fifteen feet 
high and ten feet apart were set up. From the 
tops of these center poles to the tops of the side 
poles, other poles or beams were laid to hold the 
roof. Over these were laid willow branches and 
clay. The sides were covered in the same way. 
A hole was left for an entrance, over which was 
stretched a butfalo skin. 

The Eickarees were the finest-looking Indians 
the party had yet seen, being tall and of fine pro- 
portions. In disposition they were kind and 
generous, and were not such beggars as were the 
Sioux, though they did steal an ax from the camp 
the first night it was pitched on shore. The 
women of the tribe were fine-looking and lively, 
though to them fell all the work, even to the build- 


PRAIRIE DOGS— THE RICKAREES 


147 


ing of the lodges. The dress of the men consisted 
of moccasins, leggings, a loin cloth, and a hutfalo 
robe thrown over the shoulders. Their hair, arms, 
and ears were profusely decorated. The women 
wore moccasins, leggings, a long shirt made of 
goatskin of a dirty white color and fringed, and 
a buffalo robe. 

Unlike the Sioux, the Eickarees cultivated the 
soil, raising Indian corn, beans, watermelons, 
squashes, pumpkins, and a peculiar kind of to- 
bacco. Unlike the Sioux, too, they did not drink 
the white man’s whisky, and considered it an in- 
sult to be offered that which caused them to make 
fools of themselves. This was strange, for the 
Eickarees were great traders. Among them at 
all times were traders from the Canadian country, 
who offered in exchange for peltries the articles of 
civilization, but chiefly red paint, the most highly 
prized article among the Eickarees. A Eickaree 
would often part with everything he had to spare, 
for a little paint. Their ideas of value were curi- 
ous. Shannon gave to a chief a hook made out of 
a pin and received in return a fine pair of moc- 
casins. 

This chief told Shannon an interesting story 
about three curious stones the party had seen, two 


148 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


of whicli resembled human figures, and the third 
looked like a dog. A young man, he said, who 
deeply loved a girl was unable to obtain the con- 
sent of her parents to their marriage, whereupon 
he went out into the fields to mourn, and with him 
went his faithful dog. The young woman, through 
sympathy, followed her lover. Wandering to- 
gether, the three, with nothing to live on but 
grapes, were at last converted into stone. The 
Rickarees worshipped these stones, and never 
passed them without making offerings. 

That the Rickarees were a kindly people was 
shown by an incident that happened during the 
party’s stay in the village. It became necessary 
while there for the captains to court-martial one 
of the soldiers by compelling him to run the 
gauntlet. So much did this affect old Eagle 
Feather, one of the chiefs, that he cried aloud dur- 
ing the punishment. 

Great amusement was afforded, during the two 
or three days spent by the party with these well- 
disposed Indians, by the antics of Captain Clark’s 
servant, York. York was a big, stout negro with 
a very black skin, and kinky hair. He was the first 
negro the Indians had ever seen, so that he was the 
hero of the day. Everywhere he went he was 


PRAIRIE DOGS— THE RICKAREE8 


149 


followed by a crowd of Indians, but they took good 
care not to go too near him. Particularly inter- 
esting was he to the women and children. Every 
time he would roll his big eyes in their direction, 
they would scamper away as if fearful that he was 
about to pounce upon them. 

York took advantage of the sensation he was 
making. Through an interpreter he told the 
curious Indians that he had once been a wild 
animal ; and, that he had been captured by Captain 
Clark, and had only recently become tame. Then 
he would execute some fantastic dance, and roll his 
eyes or show some wonderful feat of strength to 
prove that he was more than human. The Indians 
looked upon him with much awe and admiration, 
and believed him to be a god. 

After liberally decorating the chiefs with 
medals and flags and uniforms and distributing, 
with as little show of partiality as possible, a great 
variety of presents among the warriors and their 
squaws, the expedition again boarded the boats 
and set off for the country of the Mandans, where 
it was the purpose of the captains to go into win- 
ter quarters. 

It was now near the middle of October, and cold 
weather was already upon them. They must 


150 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


hurry, since, at the rate they had been going, it 
would require several weeks to reach the Mandan 
nation where, sixteen hundred miles from the 
point at which they started, and at the farthest 
point on the Missouri reached by the traders, they 
had determined to build houses and pass the long 
winter months. 


CHAPTER X 


A BUFFALO HUNT 

As yet the party had not enjoyed a great buffalo 
hunt. True, several hunters of the party, singly 
or in pairs, had brought in buffalo meat which had 
been served up by the cooks in appetizing style; 
but as yet no day had been spent in a grand round- 
up in which all could enjoy the sport together in 
true Indian fashion. The captains had promised 
that when they were beyond danger from un- 
friendly tribes of Indians they should have a 
grand hunt. Now the prairies were dotted every- 
where with shaggy herds, and the expedition had 
reached a friendly country, so that nothing stood 
in the way of the long-looked-for sport. 

Drouillard, who knew the country well, chose 
the ground for the hunt. He knew a place where 
the Missouri took a great sweep around the arc of 
a circle, and where, with a favoring breeze, the 
boats could make fair progress with small crews. 
By landing the buffalo hunters here he could pro- 
ceed with them into the interior and, by taking a 
151 


152 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


course across the country, in twenty-four hours 
could come out again upon the river many miles up 
the stream, before the boats could reach there. A 
good hunt could be had on the way. 

So the announcement was made one evening 
that the next morning the boats were to proceed 
with a small crew, and that some twenty of the 
men under Captain Lewis were to land and spend 
a day in hunting buffaloes. 

George Shannon had never killed a buffalo. 
Many a wild turkey and deer and antelope he had 
brought into camp. He had killed his bear and 
several wolves; but as yet he had never had the 
good fortune to bring down one of the monarchs 
of the plains. For this some of his comrades had 
joked him, so his heart burned to get a chance to 
mend his reputation. Then, too, nearly every 
other one of the crew, who had any skill at all as a 
hunter, had not only killed his buffalo, but had 
skinned it, and now boasted of his own buffalo 
robe. 

Hence, Shannon’s delight was unbounded, when 
the names of the hunters were called off by the 
captain, to find his own among them. 

The evening was spent in examining weapons, 
filling powder-horns and shot-pouches, sharpening 


A BUFFALO HUNT 


153 


knives, and putting everything in readiness, for 
the start was to be made at daybreak. 

Some half a dozen of the French hunters and 
rivermen on board had engaged in buffalo hunts, 
and they had to answer many queries as to the 
method of stalking buffaloes, the habits and tricks 
of the animal when in droves, the best distance at 
which to shoot, the best part to aim at, and how to 
skin and jerk the meat, so that it was along toward 
midnight before sleep closed the eyes of the eager 
men. 

At daybreak the pirogues set the little company, 
fully accoutered for the chase, on the shore. 
There were three horses attached to the expedition 
at this time, which had been obtained in trade from 
the Eickarees. They were stout little Mexican 
ponies, which the Indians had gotten from the 
Spaniards who at times came up from the south 
to trade. 

Captain Lewis took one of the horses, gave one 
to Drouillard, and ordered the remainder of the 
company to cast lots to determine who should have 
the third. It fell to Shannon's good fortune to 
win it. 

For some hours the party proceeded Indian 
file, as is the manner of western hunters, copied 


154 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


presumably from the Indians, Drouillard in the 
lead. All were in high spirits. The morning was 
fine, the air abounding with life and vigor, the 
woods and the long prairie grass laden with the 
perfumes that excite the zeal of the ardent hunter. 
They were making for the great, black bluffs that 
ran parallel with the shore at this point and 
several miles back from it. Drouillard had 
promised that on the tablelands beyond the blutfs 
the big game would be plentiful. 

After a laborious climb, the party with a shout 
gained the summit and stood for a moment to rest 
while their eyes swept the horizon on all sides. 
Below them lay the dense growth of cottonwood, 
through which they had come, and beyond it the 
high swamp grass reaching to the river’s edge. 
There was the broad, muddy ribbon of the Mis- 
souri itself, sweeping away in a great curve to the 
north and west, and on its bosom, like faint specks, 
floated their little fleet, the Stars and Stripes at 
the masthead scarcely discernible to the eye. 

In the opposite direction, the great upland 
prairie swept in undulating waves as far to the 
north as the eye could reach. Little black patches 
were seen here and there, looking like clumps of 
trees; these Drouillard said were herds of buf- 


A BUFFALO HUNT 


155 


faloes. The hunters would he unable to approach 
them, however, from the direction in which they 
were moving, he said, as the wind was blowing 
from them toward the butfaloes, so that the 
animals would learn of the approach of their 
enemy before the latter could get within striking 
distance. At the guide ^s suggestion, therefore, 
the hunters moved off to the left, and followed the 
line of the bluff, intending, after making a wide 
detour, to come upon the animals from the north 
and west. 

Several hours’ tramp brought them into a fa- 
vorable position; then scattering, the men threw 
themselves upon the ground, keeping, as far as 
possible, amid the high grass and in the hollows 
into which the prairie was much broken. 

It was Drouillard’s orders that no shot should 
be fired until he should whistle a signal, as the 
incautious firing of a gun by an over-anxious 
hunter would cause the herd to take fright and 
scamper out of harm’s way. The three horsemen 
tied their horses together in a deep hollow, and 
joined the others, who were now crawling as 
rapidly as the grass would permit toward a herd 
numbering countless thousands. 

Only once did Shannon permit himself to lift 


156 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


his head high enough to see through the grass the 
force of the enemy. The sight made him tremble, 
strong and brave as he was. Lying flat upon his 
breast with both arms extended, his gun ahead of 
him, and his head slightly raised above the level of 
the ground, the big animals, now not over a hun- 
dred yards away, seemed to him magnified into 
very monsters. Some were quietly grazing, 
others were lying peacefully, chewing their cuds, 
others tossing their manes in the air, and sniffing 
the breeze, while here and there two were at play, 
or, locking their horns and bellowing and pawing 
the earth, were engaged in fierce combat. 

One old bull had drawn apart from the herd. 
He had been disgraced and driven out of the com- 
pany. He had once doubtless been a leader, but, 
as old age had come on, his place had been taken by 
a younger bull, who, aided by his followers, had 
driven the old fellow out of the company. His 
mane was brown and shaggy and his skin scarred 
with the wounds of many battles. His eyes, nearly 
concealed by a coarse tuft of brown hair, had lost 
their fire. Shannon picked hini out as a ‘ ^ f oeman 
worthy of his steel/’ Young at buffalo hunting, 
he did not know that he had selected a beast worth- 
less as to his flesh and hide, fit only to die and be- 


A BUFFALO HUNT 157 

come food for the butfalo-wolves that even now 
could be seen circling about the great herd, watch- 
ing with sneaking eyes the opportunity to attack 
some feeble member of the band, or feast upon 
some one of their number killed in a combat with 
others, or fallen from old age. 

With his heart up in his throat. Shannon 
clutched his rifle, and pulled himself along, not 
daring again to lift his head until, thinking him- 
self within easy shooting distance, he lay still, 
waiting, every muscle tense and every nerve vi- 
brating with excitement. Why did not the signal 
come? The suspense was something awful. He 
could stand it no longer, so slowly raising his head, 
his gun-barrel pointing straight ahead, he aimed 
as best his trembling arms would permit, straight 
between the eyes of the big bull. 

A shrill whistle! It was the signal! The big 
bull lifted his head and his eyes glistened. Shan- 
non raised the barrel of his gun a trifle and a 
bullet went crashing on its way. A moment later 
the young hunter sprang to his feet. To his hor- 
ror the whole herd, taking alarm, were plunging 
like an angry sea straight toward him. There was 
no time to note the effect of his shot. The bull 
buffalo was nothing to him now. To run, and 


158 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


that, too, with all the speed that was in him was 
needed to save his life. Without looking behind 
him, but dimly conscious of a tremendous tramp- 
ling that sounded like the rolling of angry thunder, 
he sped like an arrow back over the ground he had 
come at right angles to the course he assumed 
the buffaloes were taking. Not a hundred yards 
ahead amid the high grass, stood the tall, lithe 
form of Drouillard. If he could reach the side of 
the Frenchman he felt that he would be safe. His 
cap had fallen at his first leap, and his gun lay in 
the hollow where in the first moment of his con- 
sternation he had dropped it. 

‘‘ Run, ye spalpeen,’^ cried a voice directly be- 
hind him, followed by a peal of laughter. 

It was the irrepressible Irishman, Patrick Gass. 
Drouillard was pointing otf to the left and, stop- 
ping, the boy turned to see that the herd had 
circled and were running in a direction away from 
him. His fright, then, had been uncalled for ! 

Crestfallen he returned for his rifle and his cap 
and then joined the others, who were examining 
several buffaloes that lay prostrate on the plains, 
one of them being his old bull, which had fallen 
shot through the brain. 

The fact that he was one of the few out of the 


A BUFFALO HUNT 


159 


whole party who had killed his buffalo was some 
salve to the hoy^s injured feelings, but his pride in 
this was humbled when Drouillard informed him 
that his prize was not worth the picking and that it 
should be left for the butfalo-wolves. 

^ ^ Hereafter, young man, select a black buffalo ; 
they are the young ones. Brown, shaggy hair 
means an old butfalo. There is not enough fat 
on this bull to make a meal for a crow, and a naked 
Indian would not take his hide as a present. But 
you made a fine shot ! There is not one hunter out 
of a thousand that can find the brain of a buffalo 
under that shaggy topknot. An old buffalo hun- 
ter does not shoot at the head. Had you failed to 
find the right spot between those two eyes, your 
life would have paid the forfeit, for a wounded 
buffalo, except to an expert hunter on a good 
horse that knows its business, is a dangerous 
animal. ’ ’ 

It took but a short time to skin the other buf- 
faloes that lay dead in the grass, and cut the meat 
off the bones into narrow strips, roll these in the 
hide and strap all on the back of one of the ponies. 

You have learned something to-day. Shannon, 
about buffalo hunting that will stand you in good 
stead, ’ ’ said Captain Lewis as they rode away be- 


160 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


hind Drouillard, who had pointed his pony’s nose 
toward the west. 

Shannon smiled feebly, for, to tell the truth, he 
was not proud of his first buffalo experience, 
though he had shot his butfalo. 

Further success in getting within shooting dis- 
tance of the now thoroughly frightened herd being 
out of the question, the party took its way rapidly 
toward a point on the river where the boats ex- 
pected to come to anchor and await them. But 
when they reached the edge of the bluff again they 
could see nothing of the boats, and they found the 
descent so precipitous it was necessary to halt and 
send scouts in several directions to find a pathway. 
Looking far off to the west, beyond the course of 
the river, the keen eyes of one of the Frenchmen of 
the party saw small specks dotting the prairie that 
spread away from the farther bank of the river. 

Buffaloes,” he cried. 

Then every man, shading his eyes with his 
hands, for the sun hung low in the west, looked at 
the strange sight. True, the plain across the river 
was fairly carpeted with moving objects — thou- 
sands of them. 

^ ^ They are coming this way, ’ ’ remarked Drouil- 
lard. 


A BUFFALO HUNT 


161 


At once Captain Lewis announced that on the 
following morning the party should cross the river 
and have another day’s sport. But now it was 
necessary to get down off the bluff and make camp 
near the river, for during the whoie day they had 
had no water, and both men and animals were suf- 
fering from thirst. 

Soon one of the scouts returned to say that he 
had discovered a buffalo path leading down the 
side of a bluff some two miles away. It was grow- 
ing dark rapidly, so the party set off at once at a 
rapid pace in the direction indicated. In another 
hour they were on the river bank, had chosen a 
place for camp, and preparations had been made 
for spending the night. 

Horses and men were refreshed by the first drink 
of the day, fires were made, and buffalo steak was 
soon sizzling over the flames, sending out ravishing 
odors. 

Tired from the long day’s tramp, the men, soon 
after a hearty supper, were stretched upon the 
ground around the campfire asleep, — all but one 
who, on the bank of the river, lying flat upon his 
chest, with arms extended and chin resting upon 
his hands in the true fashion of the frontier 
guard, was keeping watch for night prowlers in 


162 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


the shape of beasts or men, his gun within easy 
reach. 

About ten o’clock the camp was awakened by a 
sound as of distant thunder. Men rubbed their 
eyes and said, We shall have a storm.” Drouil- 
lard, the half-breed hunter, knew better, and with 
an anxious look in his eyes he awakened the cap- 
tain and told him the buffaloes were on the march 
and evidently coming toward the river. 

If these animals take it into their heads to 
cross the river there is no telling what may become 
of us,” he said earnestly. There are thousands 
of them. It is a spread of a mile across their front. 
It means death to anything in their pathway. ’ ’ 

Soon the guard came rushing in, terror-stricken, 
calling out that the buffaloes were fording the river 
and that, from the bellowing of the bulls, the low- 
ing of the cows, and the tremendous splashing of 
the water, it seemed to him that there could be no 
escape for the camp. 

‘ ‘ Build a fire, ’ ’ cried Drouillard. ‘ ^ Bring drift- 
wood, branches of trees, and dry grass — anything 
that will burn. Pile it here on the bank and set it 
afire. That may cause them to turn and give us a 
wide berth. ’ ’ 

No sooner said than done. Every man of the 


A BUFFALO HUNT 


163 


company, from Captain Lewis down, joined in the 
work of searching amid the darkness for dry stuff 
to build a great bonfire. Then Drouillard poured 
several handfuls of powder beneath it, and Cap- 
tain Lewis set it afire with the wonder matches he 
had brought from St. Louis. 

The leaves and dry grass caught the flame, and 
soon there was a furious crackling and a light that 
illumined half the river. 

Peering out over the waters with anxious eyes, 
the men could see the frantic efforts of the great 
beasts to change their course, for buffaloes, like 
other wild animals of the plains, are afraid of fire. 

The din now became terrific. It chilled the very 
blood of the watchers. Hour after hour the great 
mass plunged through the water and up the banks 
to the right of the little band, the near flank of the 
oncoming hordes being distinctly seen on the edges 
of the light thrown out by the great fire. 

At last the main army had passed and the strag- 
glers had clambered up the banks ; then, thankful 
for their escape, the company lay down again upon 
the ground and fell asleep to the low rumble of the 
retreating hosts that, among the forests lining 
the base of the bluff, were following their leaders 
to the prairie tablelands above. 


164 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


At dawn of the next day, after a hasty break- 
fast, the horses were saddled, girths made 
tight, weapons examined, and everything put in 
readiness for another hunt. Every man was eager 
to get a sight of the great army of shaggy-coated 
monsters that no doubt had halted on the upland 
and were now quietly grazing on the rich grass that 
formed its carpet. It was not difficult to find the 
trail. It was as if a million men had trampled the 
leaves and grass and fallen branches of trees. For 
several miles the broad path wound its way up the 
banks of the river and then climbed zigzag up the 
steep bluff. 

Eager for the first view, the men rushed pell- 
mell along the beaten path until, on the summit, 
they paused and scanned the prairie. A mile away 
was the rear guard of the great army, and beyond, 
stretching as far as the eye could reach, was the 
main body. 

Drouillard led the attack. Shannon still rode 
the pony that had been his from the start. Perhaps 
no one in the company was so eager for the fray 
as he. He had determined not only to shoot a buf- 
falo, but to get one of which even Drouillard would 
be proud. He would select one with a black skin 
this time. He would show his older comrades that 


A BUFFALO HUNT 


165 


he was not afraid of the fiercest of the species, and 
that he knew a good buffalo when he saw one. 

Selecting a deep hollow that circled off to the 
left, Drouillard led the men by a long two hours’ 
tramp, the horsemen leading their horses, until 
they had got to leeward of a detached portion of 
the great herd, and then, telling the men they had 
reached a point the nearest to their prey that they 
could hope to get, he bade them scatter, select their 
victims, and make sure in their shooting to aim at 
a vital part. 

No sooner had the word been given than Shan- 
non threw himself forward on his pony, dug his 
heels into its flanks and shouted. At once the 
animal plunged forward, directly into the face of 
a hundred buffaloes who at the first sound lifted 
their heads, then, tossing their tails in the air, 
snorted viciously and took to their heels, raising a 
mighty cloud of dust. The pony was a buffalo 
hunter and knew better than did his master what 
was before him. With long, swinging strides he 
settled down to his work as if for the race of his 
life. Shannon had but to give him rein. After a 
few minutes’ chase a cow, as beautiful an animal 
as a buffalo hunter ever saw, suddenly plunged off 
at an angle and separated herself from the rest. 


166 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


With scarcely the touch of a rein Shannon’s pony 
wheeled and made after her. The direction the 
hutfalo had taken brought her in a moment within 
range of the rifle of one of the party who was on 
foot and concealed in a little hollow. A shot rang 
out, but it missed. Shannon’s heart gave a leap. 
Now he had the race all to himself. He yelled 
encouragement to his faithful pony, then clutching 
the reins tight in his left hand and throwing the 
barrel of his gun over his left arm, he waited while 
every bound lessened the distance between pur- 
suer and pursued. Soon the pony was opposite the 
flanks of the cow. The hoy raised the muzzle of 
his gun, took quick aim and fired. The cow tossed 
her head as if in defiance, and without slackening 
her pace turned off to the left. The pony did the 
same, scarcely losing a foot of ground in the turn. 
Shannon’s rifle was now empty. Grabbing his 
pistol from its holster he shouted in a frenzy of 
excitement and bent far out over the pony ’s neck. 
Pony and rider seemed one, and both animated by 
the one desire. They were within ten feet of the 
buffalo’s head when suddenly it turned, and with 
a terrific snort, blowing foam from its mouth and 
nostrils, plunged directly upon the horse. Quick 
as a flash the little animal sprang into the air. 



Crack ! ” went Shannon’s pistol. —Page 167 








* 




tf > 


A BUFFALO HUNT 


167 


escaping the infuriated monster by the margin 
of scarce an inch. At the same moment ‘ ^ Crack ! ’ ’ 
went Shannon’s pistol, and in a twinkling he was 
thrown from his rearing horse to the ground. On 
his feet in an instant, he tore from his belt his long 
hunting knife, and with a rush, born of a desperate 
purpose to kill or be killed in the one plunge, he 
drove the blade deep into the buffalo’s lungs. 
Throwing back her head and pawing the earth, 
with a dying bellow, she fell heavily to the ground, 
staggered halfway to her feet again, then dropped 
dead. 

Drouillard, who had seen the boy’s plight, was 
galloping toward him with all speed. 

Well done. Shannon, but a narrow escape. 
Had you failed to strike just right, it was all over 
with you.” 

The boy had not realized his danger. 

What will they say, now? ” he asked, pride 
and exultation mingled in his look. 

That you have beaten us all,” answered 
Drouillard. Others of us have killed our buf- 
faloes, but yours is the best of the lot. That skin 
will make a robe of which you may well be proud. 
Captain Lewis wants a fine one to send to the 
President. He may want this one. ’ ’ 


168 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


But there was no time for further conversation. 
Drouillard had other work to do. He must cut up 
his buffalo, so, bidding Shannon follow the direc- 
tions he had given him as to how to take off the 
skin without marring it, he turned his horse and 
was off at a canter. 

No sooner had Drouillard gone than the hoy set 
to work with his knife to cut off the skin. First he 
cut around the legs near the body ; then he made a 
clean cut about the neck near the shoulder, and 
after that a long cut from the neck, between the 
fore legs and down the entire length of the belly. 
Then, grasping the skin at the shoulder, inch by 
inch, he tore it loose from the flesh until all one 
side was free to the backbone. Endeavoring to 
turn the buffalo over to get at the other side, he 
found, try hard as he might, he could not lift its 
immense weight alone ; so, obtaining the assistance 
of another of the party, he soon finished the job, 
and had the beautiful dark skin spread upon the 
earth. Then, following the example of the buffalo 
hunters he had watched the day before, he cut the 
fleshy parts of the carcass into long, narrow strips. 

There remained yet the tongue, the most delicate 
part of the buffalo for eating. He knew that he 
would be laughed at if he did not bring the tongue 


A BUFFALO HUNT 


169 


to camp, but how to get at it was more than he 
knew. Taking hold of the immense jaws he tried 
to open them but could not. Then, inserting his 
knife as a pry, he found this unavailing, and left 
the point of the knife broken between the animal ^s 
set teeth. Labiche, the Frenchman who had helped 
him turn the body over, was not far away engaged 
in skinning his victim. He would ask Labiche, or 
rather he would watch Labiche, and then return 
and do as he had seen Labiche do it. Luckily 
Labiche was about to cut out the tongue of his 
capture when he sauntered up. Shannon saw him 
cut a hole in the animaFs throat, insert his hands 
and pull the tongue back through the aperture and 
cut it olf at the base. Secretly glad that he had 
learned to do the trick without asking informa- 
tion, Shannon returned to his own buffalo, and 
soon the work was entirely finished and to his sat- 
isfaction. Then wrapping the tongue and the rib- 
bons of meat in the skin, he caught his pony, which 
was quietly grazing nearby, and with his bundle 
before him on the saddle he rode away to join his 
comrades, who were now gathering for their return 
to camp. 

The juiciest of buffalo steak made a right royal 
feast for the merry party that gathered about the 


170 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


campfire that night. Proudly the hunters exhib- 
ited their spoils to their comrades who had arrived 
from down the river during their absence. George 
Shannon afterwards declared it was one of the 
happiest days of his life. 

So much buffalo meat had been taken that the 
hunters proceeded to jerk it. The process was 
new to Shannon. One of the cooks explained it to 
him. 

There are several ways, hut the best is this,’^ 
said he. ^ ^ A frame of light poles is held from the 
ground by forked posts planted in the earth. The 
frame is often twenty or thirty feet long by six to 
ten feet wide. Under the middle of the frame a 
trench is made and filled with anything which when 
set afire will make a smoke. The ribbons of meat, 
each about two inches wide and three-quarters of 
an inch thick and as long as possible, are laid on 
the frame, after having been dipped into a camp 
kettle full of boiling brine. The wood in the 
trench is then set on fire and kept burning until 
the dryness of the prairie air and the heat of the 
sun have cured the meat. The fire is for the pur- 
pose of making a smoke to keep away insects and 
flies and of lessening the cold and the damp. You 
will often see Indians curing their meat by hang- 


A BUFFALO HUNT 


171 


ing these ribbons on a bough in the hot sun and 
turning it from time to time, but it attracts flies, 
insects, and ants, unless a fire is built under- 
neath/’ 

The jerking of the meat killed by the butfalo 
hunters on this occasion was easily accomplished 
on board the bateau, and enough was cured to last 
for many days. 


CHAPTER XI 

WINTER AMONG THE MANDAN INDIANS 

Late in October word was given out that the 
captains were looking for a site for a winter camp. 
The news was grateful to the men who for five lung 
months had labored at the oars, or dragged the 
heavy towlines, or waded breast-high the chilling 
currents, much of the time enfeebled by sickness 
and all of the time harassed by ills and misfortunes 
against which no human foresight could have 
guarded them. 

The winter was now fast coming on. Biting 
winds from the north and west found their clothing 
worn to tatters. Snow fell at intervals and ice 
formed along the margins of the river. Still un- 
complainingly they kept on. They must reach the 
Mandan villages where, at this very farthest point 
on the Missouri to which the venturesome white 
traders carried their packs, Drouillard led them to 
expect opportunities of trade with the natives and 
a friendly welcome. 


172 


WINTER AMONG THE INDIANS 


173 


How far have we come, Captain? ventured 
Shannon one day, as Captain Clark was taking ob- 
servations of latitude and longitude with his in- 
struments. 

‘ ^ Over sixteen hundred miles, ’ ’ he replied. 

Then we have not averaged more than ten or 
twelve miles a day in the entire five months, ’ ’ said 
Shannon, after a pause. At this rate how long 
before we shall reach the ocean? 

The captain thought he detected a note of de- 
spair in the boy^s voice. 

If you will tell me,^^ he said solemnly, how 
long it would take a blind man to feel his way out 
of an interminable forest, I will tell you how long 
we shall be in reaching the mountains, then how 
long we shall be in finding a way across their unex- 
plored heights, and then how long we shall be in 
finding the waters that empty into the Columbia 
and then into the ocean. No man has ever meas- 
ured the distance. Men have tried it; but none 
have succeeded. All have come back disheartened, 
discouraged, beaten. But there is one thing sure : 
Captain Lewis will find a path to the Pacific, or his 
bones and ours will whiten on the sides of the 
mountains. There will be no failure with Meri- 
wether Lewis. 


174 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


a There will be no failure/^ replied the boy res- 
olutely. 

* ‘ I am sure of that, ^ ^ replied Clark. ‘ ‘ But this 
freezing wind that blows ice into the very skin tries 
one’s loyalty. We must make camp soon or we 
shall all die before we see the mountains. How the 
enemies of President Jefferson would gloat over 
such a signal failure of his plans. They have 
prophesied that our expedition would end disas- 
trously. ’ ’ 

‘‘ A winter in camp will not be ungrateful to 
some of the men, ’ ’ said Shannon. 

Indeed, not to any of us,” replied the cap- 
tain. I am living in imagination the days and 
nights to come when we shall have stout houses of 
logs, and roaring fires, and enough to eat, and 
Cruzatte’s fiddle, and your songs. Shannon. You 
have not sung much lately. Your voice is frozen 
up, eh? You are not losing spirit, I hope.” 

‘‘No, not losing spirit, but it’s hard to sing, with 
feet you can scarcely walk on for the pain of the 
bruises, and a carbuncle as big as a walnut on 
your neck.” 

Clark laughed outright. 

‘ ‘ That ought to teach you to quit eating so much 
meat. Why don’t you eat pie and cake? Do you 


WINTER AMONG THE INDIANS 176 

know, I was dreaming the other night I was home 
in Kentucky and in my old home in Louisville. My 
sister had just set before me a whole plum pud- 
ding, and I was to eat it all. The joy of it wakened 
me up. ^ ^ 

Both men laughed heartily. 

But,^’ went on Clark, I thought Captain 
Lewis lanced that boil for you last Sunday.’^ 

He did,’^ replied Shannon, but this is an- 
other one.’^ 

‘ ‘ Another one ! Are you trying to rival White- 
house? He^s had eight in as many weeks.’’ 

And thus the two, commander and man, laughed 
and joked while disease and privation, danger and 
death itself, like specters, grim and ghastly, hov- 
ered over them. 

One morning a few days later a Mandan Indian 
was taken aboard. All manner of questions were 
asked him by the captains as to the country farther 
up the river, and particularly as to a good location 
for a camp. Guided by the information thus ob- 
tained, the boats made for an island a short dis- 
tance above the first Mandan village. On arriv- 
ing it was found that the timber was small and 
scraggy, so the boats dropped back half a mile 
below the village to a point where a level tract of 


176 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


country covered with cottonwoods offered an at- 
tractive site for a camp. 

The captains found they had halted none too 
soon, for as they disembarked a freezing rain was 
falling that later turned to blinding sleet and snow. 
Hastily putting up temporary shelter, the captains 
at once sent messengers to the village inviting the 
chiefs to a conference. There came, in answer to 
the invitation, the principal chiefs of the Mandans ; 
Black Moccasin, chief of the Minnetarees, and 
White Buffalo Rohe Unfolded, chief of the Anna- 
haways. These came prepared to smoke the pipe 
of peace, followed by their women, who carried 
upon their hacks great quantities of fresh meat as 
a present to their paleface visitors. The confer- 
ence that followed was not unlike that held on pre- 
vious occasions with other tribes. The mainsail 
of the bateau was spread for a covering ; the Amer- 
ican flag was hoisted to a treetop; the men were 
paraded; the swivel gun was fired; the captains 
and chiefs exchanged speeches and presents. 

Although the winter had set in, as indicated by 
snow flurries, the frozen earth, the ice in the river, 
the sweep of great flocks of birds to the south, yet 
many of the Indians came scantily dressed, some 
nearly naked. The poverty of these people was so 


WINTER AMONG THE INDIANS 177 

evident that as soon as the boxes and bales were 
carried from the boats to the shore Captain Lewis 
began a generous distribution of clothing. Most 
acceptable of all the presents given was an iron 
corn mill. As the labor of grinding the corn fell 
to the women, the sight of the grain disappearing 
into the mill and coming out as meal was to them 
an object of never-ceasing wonder and joy. From 
that moment the white men became the trusted 
friends of the Mandan women. 

At once the men, under the lead of Gass, began 
building their cabins and fort. The lodges of 
the Mandans in the village nearby were closely 
grouped together at an angle of the river bank. 
They were built entirely of dirt. The floors were 
dirt, packed hard and polished by use so they 
almost shone. Bound poles lashed together with 
thongs and covered by buffalo skins made their 
rude beds. Buffalo robes served as pillows and 
blankets. Buffalo- or deer-skins, painted with 
fanciful designs and ornamented with porcupine 
quills, hung before the beds as screens. 

The cabins built by Lewis and Clark were more 
pretentious, consisting of four rooms each, with a 
loft and a sloping roof. They were made of logs 
and were set end to end, in two rows, an inclosure 


178 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


being thus formed to serve as a protection in case 
of attack. 

By Christmas day the cabins and fort were com^ 
pleted, and to celebrate the end of their labors 
flour, dried apples, pepper, and other articles of 
luxury were distributed among the men to help 
furnish a Christmas dinner. 

Christmas morning was ushered in by two shots 
from the swivel gun and a volley from the rifles of 
the whole company. The American flag was then 
hoisted and one of the rooms cleared out for a 
dance. At two in the afternoon another gun was 
fired, and the fun began. Cruzatte was the fiddler. 
None of the natives were present excepting three 
squaws, the wives of the interpreters, as, by the 
command of the officers, none were permitted in 
the fort on that day. A jolly time was had by the 
men, dancing to the music of the fiddle until eight 
o’clock, when the merrymaking was over. 

New Year’s day, 1805, was likewise ushered in 
by the firing of the swivel gun. By permission of 
the captains, the men then went up to the Indian 
village, where during the greater part of the day 
they entertained themselves and the Indians alike 
by dancing, and where York amused them im- 
mensely with his songs and dances and grimaces. 


WINTER AMONG THE INDIANS 


179 


The weather was now extremely cold, the mer- 
cury standing in Captain Lewis’s thermometer at 
times as mnch as sixty degrees below the freezing 
point, but all were happy and contented. There 
was hunting, and work in repairing clothing and 
moccasins and mending tools and making rope of 
strips of hide, and there was mnch visiting with 
the Indians. 

Traders from the Canadian border, representing 
the two great Canadian fur companies, the Hudson 
Bay Company and the Northwest Company, came 
during the winter, and among them Eene Jes- 
saume, who drove his teams of Esquimaux dogs 
hitched to sled loads of goods all the way from Fort 
Assiniboin. So intelligent and so familiar with 
the language and customs of the Indians was he 
that the captains at once engaged him as an inter- 
preter during their stay among the Mandans. 

Early in the winter Chaboneau, another French- 
man, strolled into the camp, followed by his two 
squaws — one an old, weatherbeaten woman of the 
tribe of the Minnetarees; the other, a younger 
woman who years before had been taken captive 
in her home among the Eockies by the Minnetarees, 
then at war with her people, the Shoshones, and 
had been carried far to the east, and finally sold 


180 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


to the French trapper, Chaboneau. Her name was 
Sacajawea (Bird Woman). Captain Clark was 
anxious to find some one who, when the expedition 
should reach the country untrod by the white man, 
might act as guide and interpreter among the In- 
dians of the mountains. The young wife of Cha- 
boneau was just the one. She was a Shoshone, one 
of the Snake family of Indians at the headwaters 
of the Missouri. If the Shoshones should prove 
unfriendly, Sacajawea could intercede for them. 
So Chaboneau and the young Bird Woman were 
forthwith employed. 

No matter how cold the weather, there was no 
cessation of the hunt. There were the wild goats 
that abounded in the neighboring country. The 
Indians taught the white men how to take them in 
great numbers. They built a strong pen or fence 
of bushes in the shape of two sides of a triangle, 
interweaving branches in such a way as to make 
the fence almost impassable. The base of the tri- 
angle was left open. Hundreds of Indians then 
scoured the country and drove the goats into the 
mouth of the big pen when, rushing forward, they 
closed its mouth and held the animals at their 
mercy. 

The Mandans hunted the buffalo much after the 


WINTER AMONG THE INDIANS 


181 


manner of other Indians of the plains, stalking 
them as long as possible, then with wild whoops 
driving their ponies directly against the sides of 
the great herd, at the same time shooting their 
arrows at their vital parts until their quivers were 
empty, their horses exhausted, and scores of the 
monster beasts lay dead upon the plains. 

The Mandans practiced another method of hunt- 
ing the butfaloes. One of the Indians, dressed to 
resemble a buffalo by holding before his face a 
buffalo head and covering his body with a buffalo 
robe, approached as near as possible to the animals 
as they grazed on some upland. The remainder of 
the Indians at the same time went to the other side 
of the herd. At a signal these rushed upon the 
herd from every direction save that where stood 
the buffalo Indian. Immediately taking to his 
heels, the make-believe buffalo rushed for the 
precipice, the whole herd following. The daring 
Indian, reaching the precipice, threw himself be- 
hind a projecting rock or into a hole prepared in 
advance, and after him came the multitudes of 
galloping, snorting animals, crowding and pushing. 
Unable to stop at the brink of the precipice, 
pressed on by the thousands behind them, they 
plunged over, falling in great heaps at the bottom. 


182 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


It was then the work of the squaws who followed 
the hunters to skin and dress the game and carry 
the spoils into camp, leaving the carcasses as feasts 
for the buffalo-wolves who ever lurked in the wake 
of the great herds. 

Two men of the expedition proved their great 
usefulness during the long winter. These were 
William Bratton and John Shields, the former a 
gunsmith and the latter a blacksmith. No men in 
the camp worked harder than they. The Indians 
prized above all else articles of iron. An old 
sheet-iron stove that had been used on the bateau 
was about ready to fall to pieces. Shields cut up 
the sheet iron into bits four inches square. Each 
one of these pieces he traded to the Indians for 
seven to eight gallons of corn. Then he made 
from these spearheads, arrowheads, knives, and 
other things suited to the savage fancy. 

On February 11th Sacajawea gave birth to a fine 
boy who, strapped to his mother’s back, was des- 
tined to make the fearful journey that the expedi- 
tion had yet to cover before it reached the ocean. 

In March the ice in the Missouri began to break 
up, and all was excitement in the Indian villages 
and at the white men’s camp. 

Every day the Indians lined the banks of the 


WINTER AMONG THE INDIANS 


183 


stream, armed with bows and arrows, spears 
tipped with iron fastened by Shields at his forge, 
and in rare cases a fusil gun, watching the floating 
ice for signs of buffalo, hear, or deer. Every 
spring scores of these animals, in trying to cross 
the rapidly rotting ice, broke through and were 
drowned. Others, attempting a crossing, were 
caught in the break-up of the ice and borne down 
alive, perched upon the glassy cakes, in constant 
danger of slipping into the water or being crushed 
and drowned in the ever-changing mass. 

As soon as one of the unfortunate animals came 
within view the watchful redskins leaped upon the 
ice and ran, with marvelous skill and daring, from 
cake to cake, ofttimes barely touching with their 
feet the surface of the uncertain path, until the 
fleetest of them, reaching the side of some defense- 
less animal, shot it dead, and with the aid of others 
hauled it to the shore with ropes of hide. 

At times the dead bodies of these animals, some 
in a state of putrefaction, floated down on the 
masses of ice. Just as eager were the savages for 
these horrid prizes as for those that came alive 
within their reach, for with the Mandans, as with 
other savage tribes of Indians, spoiled meat was 
a luxury. Indeed, the Mandans often buried the 


184 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


flesh of buffalo and deer until putrefaction set in, 
before eating it. 

The breaking up of the ice also brought joyful 
anticipations to the hearts of the captains and their 
men. The winter had been long and cruel. There 
had been no news, of course, from the outside 
world, save such as had been brought in by traders 
from the Canadian country, and this had been 
meager and of little moment. There was no nov- 
elty now in their situation. There was nothing to 
break the monotony, aside from hunting in a tem- 
perature forty, fifty, and even sixty degrees below 
the freezing point, the cutting down of the cotton- 
wood trees and the splitting of them into timbers 
for the building of their cabins and fort, — an occu- 
pation that kept them busy until Christmas, — the 
dressing of skins and the making of clothing, the 
repairing of the bateau and the pirogues, and the 
making of new oars and paddles and masts, and 
finally the long search for trees of a sufficient size 
for the building of new canoes, and now and then 
at long intervals a dance to the accompaniment of 
Cruzatte’s fiddle. 

But the men were not homesick. They were 
built of stuff too stern for such sentiment. True, 
^ they often recalled in conversation and in thought 


WINTER AMONG THE INDIANS 185 

the names and forms of friends and relatives, and 
lived over again in imagination and in story their 
life in the civilization nearly three thousand miles 
away toward the rising sun. But when, with the 
first appearance of the wild geese sweeping up 
from the south. Captain Lewis asked who of the 
men wanted to return, and suggested that as soon 
as the river was free from ice he would put a crew 
on board the bateau and send it back down the 
Missouri with letters to the President and to 
friends at home, together with notes of the trip 
and specimens of animals discovered, not one voice 
was lifted to say, ‘‘I’ll go.” 

“ Would you not rather be back in school at 
Pittsburg? ” asked Captain Lewis of George 
Shannon. 

The boy of the expedition, grown in the year to 
be a strong, sturdy man, with bronzed and weather- 
beaten face, but with the same clear, honest eye, 
replied: “ I am not the kind to quit. Captain. 
When I volunteered I told you that I would follow 
you to the ends of the earth, and I meant it. ’ ’ 

“ But you did not anticipate frozen feet, a 
starved stomach, and bruised hands. You did not 
expect to sleep amid rattlesnakes and have your 
eyes blinded with alkali dust. You knew nothing 


186 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


of the wild beasts that, worse than Indians, would 
dispute your way. Does it not frighten you to 
know that within a few days after we start we shall 
be in a land the white man has never trod ; that we 
shall meet tribes of Indians whose habits and dis- 
positions no explorer has ever reported, and shall 
scale mountain heights and navigate currents yet 
untried by white men ? ’ ^ 

‘ ‘ These dangers. Captain, only lend pleasure to 
the prospect. It is the life I have always craved, 
and I count myself most fortunate that I have the 
honor to serve my country in a position so much to 
my liking and under the leadership of such men 
as you and Captain Clark.’’ 

Captain Lewis smiled. He had expected no 
other answer from Shannon. Narrowly he had 
watched the boy from the moment he had set sail 
with him on that day two years before from the 
Pittsburg wharf bound down the Ohio, and never 
for one instant had he regretted that he had given 
him permission to accompany the expedition. 
True, Shannon had given him more than one cause 
for alarm, for, unlike the most of the members of 
the party, he was without experience in explora- 
tion and was young in years. But Shannon had 
learned rapidly, and now that the captains were 


WINTER AMONG THE INDIANS 


187 


to start upon the last stage of their expedition — 
the severest of all — they would have as soon 
thought of parting with Sergeant Gass, the good- 
humored Irishman, who had made himself indis- 
pensable, not only as a carpenter but as an officer, 
or with Drouillard, the expert guide and interpre- 
ter, as with Shannon. 

But some of the men must return. The large 
bateau would soon become useless in the upper 
Missouri, with its ever narrowing current. To 
leave it with the Mandans until their return would 
be to find it destroyed. Then, too, it were folly to 
think of carrying farther the large stores of skins, 
robes, skeletons, and specimens of minerals, plants, 
and animals that had been collected on the way. 
President Jefferson, who had been from the start 
severely criticised by his enemies for his fool- 
hardy’^ project of sending an expedition into the 
wilderness to die, would be anxious to hear from 
them, as would their friends and relatives in the 
States. 

So the bateau which had been injured by the ice 
was repaired and fitted with a new sail made of 
elk-skins, and turned for the first time in a year 
with its prow pointing down stream. 

With some difficulty the captains selected the 


188 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


men to accompany the boat and its precious cargo, 
as every member of the expedition pleaded bis 
desire and bis fitness for going on. No one volun- 
teered, so the captains must select. It was an 
anxious day for all when Captain Lewis announced 
be was ready to assign the men to the disagreeable 
duty of going back, but finally Corporal Warfing- 
ton was selected to command, with a crew under 
him of six soldiers and two French rivermen as 
pilots and interpreters. In addition, Brave Eaven, 
an Indian chief, with three of bis warriors, volun- 
teered to make the trip to Washington to visit the 
Great Father. 

During the long nights that immediately pre- 
ceded Sunday, April 7th, the men sat in the light 
of their campfires writing letters to their friends 
and relatives at home, copying maps and papers, 
and listing the specimens to be sent to the Pres- 
ident. 

Captain Lewis wrote a long letter to the Pres- 
ident, giving a full account of his experiences, 
breathing in every word enthusiastic hopes and 
expectations for the future. Captain Clark wrote 
to his brother, the old general, at the Falls of the 
Ohio. Shannon wrote to the schoolmaster at Pitts- 
burg and to his mother and his brothers and sisters 


WINTER AMONG THE INDIANS 189 

in the little Ohio settlement. Their letters were all 
full of kindly memories, and expressions of eager 
hope for the future. There was not one word of 
the pains and the toils they knew must be before 
them. Not one word of discouragement or fear. 
Not one word of questioning or doubt. To those 
at home it would seem more as if these men were 
on a holiday excursion than as if, moment by mo- 
ment, for weeks and months, they were to look 
death in the face in a hundred hideous forms. 

Thirty-two persons now comprised the expedi- 
tion, four of them important additions in the per- 
sons of Lepage, a French trader and trapper, who 
had years before traveled up the Missouri beyond 
the Mandan settlements for many miles; Cha- 
boneau, the French voyageur; his sixteen-year- 
old wife, Sacajawea, the Bird Woman, and her 
papoose. 

April 7, 1805, at five o’clock in the evening, 
saw the bateau, with Corporal Warfington in the 
bow, weigh anchor slowly and move out into the 
current. At the same time the two pirogues and 
six canoes, with the American flag in the prow of 
the foremost, turned their noses against the Mis- 
souri’s muddy current. 

There had been regrets at parting. The strong 


190 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


men who had suffered and toiled together had held 
one another in long embrace and had whispered 
messages of counsel and encouragement with full 
hearts, but now that the boats turned into the 
stream, one bound for home and the others for the 
mysterious unknown, with the Canadian traders 
and Indians on the bank cheering and waving their 
adieus, every man felt that it was one of the hap- 
piest as well as one of the saddest moments of his 
life. 

As long as the bateau remained within hailing 
distance they shouted their messages, as if they 
had not already repeated them over and over 
again. 

‘‘ Take good care of our letters,’’ shouted Lewis. 
‘ ‘ Look out for the Sioux, ’ ’ shouted Clark. ‘ ^ Tell 
our friends at St. Louis to look for us sure next 
summer, ’ ’ shouted Lewis. ‘ ‘ We depend upon you, 
Warfington,” shouted Clark, and the answer came 
back, We’ll do it or die.” 

At last the bateau swung around a bend in the 
river. Captain Lewis himself fired the parting 
salute from the swivel gun in the bow of the red 
pirogue, and the daring explorers again settled to 
their Herculean task against the icy current of the 
swift-flowing Missouri. 


CHAPTER XII 


GEIZZLY BEAKS DISPUTE THE WAY 

For days after leaving their winter camp the 
experiences of the explorers were a repetition of 
those of the preceding fall ; but soon the Missouri 
became more hostile, the shallows more fre- 
quent, the head winds more severe, the sand banks 
and rapids more treacherous, the alkali dust that 
blew in clouds from otf the plains, stopping the 
running of their double-cased watches, and the 
swarms of mosquitoes, more unendurable. 

The landscape was fast becoming weird and for- 
bidding. Out of the plains rose fantastic buttes. 
Hills were becoming mountains and taking on a 
peculiar grandeur of outline. Somber cliffs were 
lifting their heads hundreds of feet above them, 
with no signs of life save now and then a mountain 
goat that clambered along some dizzy height, safe 
from every enemy. Sulphurous odors filled the 
air, emitted from veins of coal that streaked the 
bare faces of the rocks, where lurked fires that had 
smoldered perhaps for centuries. 

191 


192 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Then, for a time after passing beyond this 
rugged scenery, the boats forced their way against 
a current that swept amid broad plains upon which 
still lay patches of the winter’s snow. A week, two 
weeks later, vegetation took on a summer green, 
birds filled the air with their music, white and gray 
brant, wild Canadian geese, and bald eagles swept 
over their heads. Eoses, honeysuckles, wild hops, 
morning-glories, lilies carpeted the prairie. 
Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries blossomed 
on the river banks. Hundreds of carcasses of 
drowned buffaloes came down with the current, 
while thousands upon thousands in great herds 
could be seen wandering over the face of the prai- 
ries. Deer and antelope and beaver and prairie 
chickens and bears sprang up at every turn, while 
all night long there was the music of night birds, 
the croaking of frogs, and the howling of wolves. 

The farther into the wilderness they went the 
more prodigal did nature appear. So tame became 
the antelope, the buffalo, and the beaver, that at 
times the hunters could approach near enough to 
strike them with sticks and stones. Hunters had 
never before appeared among them to frighten 
them. To them man was more an object of 
curiosity than of fear. 


GRIZZLY BEAB8 DISPUTE THE WAY 193 


Though field and sky did their utmost to make 
music for their ears and pictures for their eyes 
and luscious morsels for their palates, the old Mis- 
souri was doing her level best to hinder their 
progress. It was as if she were jealous of their 
coming into what, since creation began, had been 
her sole and undisputed possession. At times she 
poured her angry torrent through narrow chan- 
nels, worn through walls of solid rock. Here oars 
and paddles and sails were useless, and only by 
carrying the towline up and along the face of the 
almost perpendicular cliffs, with imminent danger 
of the men who tugged at the rope being dragged 
headlong over precipices into the boiling current, 
could progress be made. At times the river spread 
over a wide expanse with a depth so shallow that 
the men must throw themselves into the icy current 
and, stumbling over concealed rocks, sharp pointed 
so as to cut their double-soled moccasins, or 
rounded to give no foothold, drag by main force, 
and inch by inch, the heavily laden boats. At times 
head winds drove them back over the course 
they had come or swung them under falling 
banks of earth or drove them fast upon hidden 
sandbars. 

Yet no man mutinied, no man complained, no 


194 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


man sought to evade his duty. Marvelous the 
courage and fidelity of these pioneer explorers ! 

Scarcely a man among them but was sutfering 
from bruises and wounds, or from boils and car- 
buncles caused by their eating too freely of the 
meat the hunters brought in abundance, or from 
the stings of strange insects, or from soreness of 
the eyes blinded by the alkali dust that filled the 
air, or from blisters on hands and feet, or from the 
pricks of the cactus and prickly pear. 

Yet about the campfires at night they made 
merry with songs, and even danced at times to the 
music of Cruzatte’s fiddle. Thus they drowned 
the remembrance of the terrors of the day that was 
past and their fears for the morrow yet to come. 

For weeks no sign of Indians had appeared. 
Then they approached the hunting grounds of the 
crafty, cruel Assiniboins — that tribe among the 
Indians who, most of all the natives of the plains 
and mountains, had been spoiled by the white 
man’s whisky. Far to the north these Indians 
were accustomed to journey with their packs of 
skins to exchange for the whisky of the Canadian 
traders, and then to return to their camps on the 
upper Missouri and spend weeks in a long debauch. 

Fortunately the Assiniboins were off hunting. 


GRIZZLY BEARS DISPUTE TEE WAY 195 


Eemains of their villages were found along the 
river. One day tracks were discovered a few days 
old, and that night a little black Indian dog wan- 
dered into camp, was adopted by Captain Lewis, 
and became thereafter his constant companion. 
No member of the expedition became of greater 
service than this little dog, for at night no sentry 
or guard was so watchful as it. Many a time its 
barking aroused the camp to some new danger, 
while its tricks and antics furnished amusement 
during many a long hour. 

One afternoon Chaboneau and Lapage an- 
nounced to the captains that the expedition had 
reached the farthest point on the Missouri ever 
reached by white men. They did not know, how- 
ever, that some years before an intrepid French 
voyageur had gone many miles farther up, to find 
the Indians of the mountains at war, and to return 
disheartened with his failure to find a path across 
the rocky barrier. Chaboneau and Lepage had 
come up to this point in their trapping expeditions, 
but no one of the company had ever seen the river 
beyond, excepting Sacajawea, the Bird Woman, 
whose people lived far up in the mountains, where 
the Missouri was but a tiny rivulet, whence she had 
been carried captive by the Minnetarees five years 


196 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


before. So, from now on, Sacajawea was to be the 
guide and the interpreter. 

It was about this time that Shannon, when on 
a hunting expedition a few miles from the river, 
came suddenly upon a platform of boughs that had 
fallen from its upright posts, carrying with it to 
the ground the corpse of an Indian woman wrapped 
about with elk-skins. At its side lay the dead body 
of an Indian dog. On returning to the boat and 
reporting his discovery, Lepage explained that this 
was the method of burial among the Assiniboins. 
The dog had belonged to the dead woman ; it had 
drawn a rude sledge bearing the body to the place 
of burial, and there, the Indians having performed 
their rites, and deposited the body high above the 
ground out of the reach of wolves, the dog had 
given up its life that its spirit might go with the 
spirit of the Indian woman into the happy hunting 
grounds, there to remain her companion, her pro- 
tector, and her burden-bearer. The body, said 
Lepage, must have fallen but a short time before 
its discovery by Shannon; otherwise the wolves 
would have devoured it. This circumstance and 
the discovery of tracks from time to time indicated 
that the dreaded Assiniboins were in the neighbor- 
hood; but by the rare good fortune that had at- 


GRIZZLY BEARS DISPUTE TEE WAY 197 

tended the party from the start, not once between 
the Mandan settlements and the very headwaters 
of the Missouri during nearly three months of 
their progress did an Indian make his appearance. 

At length the expedition reached the mouth 
of a great river that flowed into the Missouri from 
the south. Its waters and the rocks along its 
shores were of a peculiar yellow color, and the 
Frenchmen of the party called it Roche Jaune — 
yellow rock. Captain Lewis called it the Yellow- 
stone, and Joseph Shields, sent by Captain Lewis 
on a day’s journey up its banks, was its first 
explorer. 

Three days afterwards an incident took place 
that came near changing the history of the expedi- 
tion. Immediately after breakfast Captain Lewis 
said to Shannon ; 

Shannon, you will hunt with me to-day.” 

The announcement brought joy to the boy, for 
to hunt with Captain Lewis was an honor. Usually 
the captain took with him Drouillard or Cha- 
boneau, or some of the more expert hunters of the 
party. 

On setting out the two followed the left bank of 
the Missouri, their eyes alert for game. After 
going about a mile they rounded a little promon- 


198 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


tory that jutted out into the river, and there sud- 
denly came face to face with two grizzly bears — 
the first of the kind, perhaps, a white man had ever 
seen. The animals had evidently been taking a 
morning bath in the river; their yellowish brown 
sides were dripping with water. It took but a 
glance for the hunters to see they had no easy prey, 
for the bears were immense, ferocious-looking 
creatures, larger than any the men had ever before 
seen. Shannon had killed the black bear of the 
Eastern States, and so had Lewis, but here were 
monsters that made the bears of the Alleghenies 
look like kittens. They had been told by Cha- 
boneau of the ^ ^ white bear, * ^ as he called it, of the 
Stony Mountains,’’ and had been warned 
against it. And now they stood face to face with 
two. 

They are the fiercest animals on the con- 
tinent, ’ ’ Lepage had said, ‘ ‘ and are the^ only beasts 
the Indians fear. They will not go out to attack 
them, save in parties of six or eight, and only then 
after putting on their war paint and performing 
solemn rites. It is hard to shoot a grizzly so as to 
kill him. His brain is so covered with muscle that 
a rifle ball can scarcely reach it, and with the ar- 
rows and bad guns the Indians use it is almost im- 


GRIZZLY BEARS DISPUTE TEE WAY 199 

possible for them to reach the head or heart in a 
way to kill. A wounded grizzly is the most terrible ^ 
of animals. He has been known to live for hours 
with a bullet through his lungs or in his brain. He 
can run faster than a man, and will stop at nothing 
when once enraged.^’ 

All this flashed through Captain Lewis’s mind as 
he and his companion found themselves standing 
transfixed with wonder in the presence of the two 
great monsters that stood before them, eyes black 
and piercing, and attitude and manner ferocious 
and defiant. 

An Indian will run from a white bear,” Le- 
page had said. But with good rifles in their hands 
neither the captain nor Shannon thought for a 
moment of flight. In an instant their weapons 
came to their shoulders and two bullets went speed- 
ing on their way. Both shots struck their mark, 
then howls so fierce went up that the two men 
stood terrified, empty rifles in their hands, not 
knowing whether to advance or retreat. In the 
moment of their hesitation one bear turned and 
fled into a near-by thicket, while the other, with a 
roar that seemed to shake the earth, came with 
long strides, his eyes blazing, his head thrashing 
from side to side, directly at the hunters. Quick 


200 THE BOY PATHFINDER 

as tlie motions could be made the men reloaded 
their rifles, pouring in the powder with trembling 
hands, following it with wads and then with bul- 
lets. Resolute, they stood their ground until the 
shaggy beast was close upon them ; then, at a word 
from Lewis, both rifles cracked in unison, the bear 
reared upon his haunches, fell on his side, rose 
again, took a few lumbering steps forward, and 
tumbled headlong in a heap. 

Elated with their success, but with eyes keenly 
on the watch for the possible approach of the other 
bear, the two men ran forward to examine their 
prize. 

To us, my boy, falls the honor of killing the 
first white bear,’’ exclaimed the captain enthusi- 
astically. ‘‘ What will our Frenchmen say to 
this I ” 

Carefully they examined the great head and 
powerful jaws, the long, shaggy, yellowish brown 
hair, and the fierce claws. 

That fellow can make a track eleven inches 
long and seven and a quarter wide, without meas- 
uring the claws, ’ ’ said Captain Lewis, taking from 
his pocket a measure and applying it to the great 
feet. 

What shall we do with him? ” asked Shannon^ 


GRIZZLY BEAR8 DISPUTE TEE WAY 201 


after the prize had been minutely looked over by 
the captain and mental notes taken for his journal. 

‘‘We have had enough hunting for one day/’ 
replied the captain. “We will wait here for the 
boats to come up, and let Chaboneau cut him up. ’ ’ 

In the course of an hour the canoes came in 
sight. Captain Lewis hailed them, and soon the 
entire party had disembarked and were examining 
the hunters’ big game. Chaboneau and Lepage 
set to work to skin the bear and take the meat. 

“ We shall have eight gallons of oil from this 
fellow,” said Lepage, “ and enough bear’s meat 
to last for some time. You have done good work. 
Captain. A shot through the lungs did the work, 
but I have known a grizzly to run a mile with a 
shot lodged there, and you are mighty lucky. 
Captain. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ I give a good part of the credit to Shannon, ’ ’ 
said the captain. “ Had he not been with me, I 
think I should have turned tail and run. I have 
been in every conceivable kind of danger, but the 
first time I ever trembled was when face to face 
with that fellow.” 

Nothing would do but that Captain Clark, who 
now felt that his associate had gotten the better of 
him, should follow the wounded bear, whose track 


202 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


was easily discernible from splotches of blood on 
the grass and rocks. But after a chase of nearly 
a mile he returned empty-handed. 

Some ten days later the expedition reached 
the mouth of a tributary of the Missouri, whose 
waters, being of a peculiar whiteness, they named 
the Milk Eiver, and the following day discovered 
the bed of a large river that had recently run dry, 
to which they gave the name Dry Eiver. 

Just beyond the mouth of the Dry Eiver, while 
Bratton, who had been suffering so much from 
boils that he had been relieved from duty, was 
walking along the shore, he was attacked by an 
immense grizzly. A shot from the man’s rifle 
wounded him and in an instant the animal showed 
fight. Not stopping to try conclusions with his 
bearship at close range, and having no time to 
reload, Bratton started on the dead run for the 
boats that were a mile and a half up the river. 
Though the bear had been shot through the lung, 
the wound had the effect only of slightly lessening 
his speed, but he was still able to give the hunter 
a lively chase. As soon as the frightened man 
came in sight of those on board the hindmost canoe 
he set up such a howling as would have done credit 
to a starving wolf. The men in the canoe acted 



Bratton started on the dead run for the boats. — Page 202, 



" 


>- -fc*” ■ MTljn^w rti II -*'/ 

mi •• 




^igmcwm ^ 

f^T*w-T5' 


|..\ 


r^ 


s-i 


i » 

1^ 





# 


I • 




1, *. 

• . , ’ -M f 

■1.. * .<■■?•’ -’ 

f — ■ { ^ » iTK . ’ » * 


s. • 


y* 

T. .•*«» 



^ ••A 


1 



^ ft» 

• 

• «* 

'i 

■?' -i, 

. \\t. * 

- • • 



^ A 





*“ ■>; , ^ -V ' ,v 

* ‘* • ' fcid ^ *y* 

• • ^ -rV’.* 

i » ^ , r 

"•' V. ,• 

w 


• *■ 


' r " ♦ > 

.^--iv..-,- ,f 





Uicf?' ..•" ,t-N' 

' ’ ^ 

• 1 • ^ . •^ 

•‘til* 


f^n 


■^ tfc. * 

, . rf-ir I 

V:vt,V , - / 

ft n-»ft "- • -*' ■" -'ft-i'" " ‘' ■ 'a*‘ *:.• • . ' A ♦ 


s*S6’«fy‘. A’v 

; , ..ftp ^ ' i 

m-; • 


a-.-' ; 

•y 


* .liL-rfc;«'i''-jK!. Lv* 




i^'i 


4 r- € 




V • 

j.' 


' >ik: J 


GRIZZLY BEARS DISPUTE THE WAY 203 


quickly and, heading for shore, reached shallow 
water just in time to rescue the fugitive, who was 
all out of breath from fear and exertion, and 
gasping like a dying fish. 

The bear, seeing his enemy out of reach, gave a 
terrific growl, turned about, and set off slowly over 
the track he had come. The other boats, being 
hailed, came about, and Captain Lewis, with seven 
of his best hunters, well armed, disembarked and 
took up the trail that was easily followed from the 
blood-marks on the ground. After proceeding for 
a mile they found the trail leading into a clump of 
thick brushwood. Here they were certain they 
would find their prey. Carefully deploying so as 
to throw a circle about the bushes, the men crept 
in, rifles in hand, ready at the first sight of the 
enemy to give battle. From the amount of blood 
spilled upon the ground, they knew the bear must 
be greatly weakened in strength; but still, as Le- 
page remarked, there was probably enough fight 
left in him to keep any number of men busy unless 
he could be taken unawares. Captain Lewis’s or- 
ders were that in approaching the thick brush the 
men should proceed with the greatest caution. It 
fell to the captain himself, with Chaboneau at his 
side, to get the first glimpse of the wounded 


204 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


monster. Peering through the brush the sight that 
met their eyes was a strange one. The wounded 
bear had cleared out the brushwood and roots for 
quite a space, and with his great claws had dug a 
bed in the earth two feet deep and five feet long, 
in which he now lay still alive, his great eyes like 
two balls of fire blazing from beneath a mass of 
shaggy hair, his great jaws parted and his tongue 
lolling. 

Shall we give him a chance for his life? ’’ 
asked the captain. 

^ ^ It is his life, or the life of some one or more of 
us, ’ ’ whispered Chaboneau. ^ ‘ Let us both shoot. ’ ’ 

^ ‘ Here goes, ’ ^ whispered the captain. 

Two rifles came to the shoulder. A quick aim, 
two sharp reports, and the bear lay dead with two 
bullets in his brain. 

‘ ^ He is not so big a one. Captain, as the one you 
got two weeks ago, but he is a male, and fiercer 
and stronger than the other. 

^ ^ He is big enough for all practical purposes, ’ ’ 
replied Lewis, breathing now with greater 
freedom. 

The work of skinning the bear was soon com- 
pleted, and so big and heavy was the skin, with its 
great coat of yellowish brown hair, it was all two 


GRIZZLY BEARS DISPUTE THE WAY 205 

men could do to carry it between them to the boats. 
From that time on the hunters and men had fre- 
quent encounters with these monarchs of the West- 
ern mountains. Only three days after Bratton ^s 
experience the men in the hindmost canoe discov- 
ered a big grizzly on the shore. At once, on round- 
ing a bend above where they had seen him, six good 
hunters, including Shannon, with Captain Clark 
at their head, disembarked and by a detour over a 
hill succeeded in concealing themselves until within 
about forty paces of the bear. Four of the men 
fired at the same moment, each shot taking effect, 
two of them in the lungs. At once the bear sprang 
at his assailants, open-mouthed. For a moment all 
stood their ground, until the two men who had pur- 
posely reserved their fire had discharged their 
rifles and sent two more bullets into the animal’s 
thick hide. Still the bear continued to live and, 
strange to relate, every moment seemed to increase 
his strength and ferocity. Their rifles now being 
empty the six men rushed for the river, the bear 
close at their heels. Run fast as they might, how- 
ever, the wounded bear rapidly gained on them. 
When they reached the river’s edge only two had 
time to jump into the canoe and push off, while the 
four others, scattering, concealed themselves in 


206 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


the willows that lined the bank. Here they started 
to reload their rifles as best they could before their 
enemy conld decide which of them to attack. Two 
of the men had run together into a little clump of 
bushes. Before these two could reload the great 
beast was upon them, tearing and trampling the 
bushes under his feet as if they were mere straws. 
Throwing away their guns and their pouches, the 
two men jumped from their hiding places, ran to 
a clilf that near by overlooked the current of the 
river, and threw themselves twenty feet into the 
water. But even then they were not safe, for the 
crazed animal, pausing but a moment on the edge 
of the cliff, with a mighty roar leaped after them. 
The two men left on the shore, seeing the predica- 
ment in which their comrades were placed, and 
having reloaded their rifles, discharged them just 
as the bear was about to grasp in his powerful jaws 
one of the men who, not being a good swimmer, 
was making slow progress toward the boats. By 
rare good fortune one of the shots struck the bear 
full in the face. With a dying roar he leaped 
nearly out of the water, then fell dead in the 
stream. 

The men in the canoes soon got a rope about the 
animal’s neck and hauled him ashore. An exami- 


GRIZZLY BEARS DISPUTE THE WAY 207 


nation showed that the brute had eight balls in 
him, two of them through his lungs and two in his 
head; and yet, until the last shot was fired, he 
seemed to have still the strength of an ox and the 
ferocious spirit of a lion unabated. 

While all this was happening a storm had been 
brewing, unnoticed by those who had been taking 
part in the exciting adventure. Hurrying on to 
overtake the others, the hunters caught sight of 
one of the pirogues just as a squall struck her. 
The mast bent, the sail dipped toward the water, 
and men were shouting and scrambling for safety. 
The seriousness of the situation at once appealed 
to Captain Clark, but so far away was he that he 
could render no assistance. This pirogue con- 
tained all the papers, instruments, medicines, and 
much of the provisions. Should the boat upset and 
these be lost the damage would be irreparable. 

The squall had struck the sail of the pirogue 
obliquely. Chaboneau, the worst steersman of the 
party, was at the helm, and Cruzatte at the bow. 
Chaboneau, who was afraid of neither wild men 
nor wild beasts, was an arrant coward on the 
water. As soon as the blow struck the sail he let 
go the rudder, and throwing his hands in the air, 
yelled, ‘^Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Cruzatte, who 


208 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


saw that the helmsman had lost his head, shouted : 

Take hold of that rudder and do your duty, or 
I’ll shoot you! ’’ 

At this the frightened Chaboneau grasped the 
tiller, but not until the boat had careened on its 
side and become half filled with water, wetting and 
damaging much of the cargo and sending afloat 
everything on the decks that was movable. Here 
Sacajawea showed the courage and presence of 
mind that throughout the entire expedition distin- 
guished her. With herself and her baby to save 
from drowning, she clung with one hand to the 
gunwale of the boat and with the other grabbed 
the articles that floated within her reach, many of 
which were of great value. 

Chaboneau, instead of putting the boat before 
the wind when the sudden squall struck her, had 
luffed her up into it. This forced the brace of the 
sail out of the hand of the man who was attending 
to it, and only by the resistance of the awning on 
the deck was the boat prevented from upsetting. 
It was the last time that Chaboneau took the place 
of a riverman at the helm. The incident served to 
show the captains the necessity of better protect- 
ing the most precious part of the cargo by the em- 
ployment as steersmen of their most skilled men. 


CHAPTER XIII 

THE SHINING MOUNTAINS AND THE FALLS OP 
THE MISSOURI 

Every day now increased the difficulties that 
confronted the brave explorers. The precipitous 
clitfs arose on either side, sometimes for two hun- 
dred or three hundred feet, leaving scarcely a foot- 
ing for the men, who during the greater part of the 
time were compelled to drag the boats by towline 
through narrows and along the face of rocks by 
ways never before trod. 

On May 26th Captain Lewis, who was on foot 
with some of the men, obtained from a high cliff 
his first view of the Rocky Mountains. Gazing at 
the snow-clad peaks, he felt that he had reached 
the fulfillment of one great desire. First of all 
white men he had looked upon the Shining 
Mountains from the east. 

Surrounded by his men, he gazed long and 
earnestly on the splendid panorama that spread 
itself away toward the Western sun. How many 
209 


210 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


miles away were the giant peaks, he could not 
know. It was to him as if he had already con- 
quered all difficulties, though before him, as he well 
knew, were weeks and months of toil and suffering, 
ere he could scale that lofty barrier and find the 
westward-flowing rivers whose currents should 
carry him to the ocean. His heart rejoiced over 
the good fortune that had brought him thus far, 
and promised success at last. In that moment of 
exultation he recalled with a grateful heart that 
his men were loyal and true and were ready to fol- 
low their leaders, whatever might be awaiting 
them in the mysterious regions beyond. 

The entire party rejoiced with the captain on 
his return to camp that night in the early prospect 
of soon assailing the mountain barriers that lay 
between them and the fulfillment of their hopes. 
The next morning they were up bright and early 
and at work with a spirit born of the consciousness 
that, though the severest test of their bravery 
might be close at hand, they were prepared for it 
with nerves alert and courage and muscles trained 
by the severest discipline. 

June 2d found the expedition in a quandary. 
They had reached a point in the river where two 
streams united to form it, one coming in from the 


THE SHINING MOUNTAINS 


211 


north and the other from the southwest. Nobody 
could tell which of the two was the Missouri. Le- 
page and Chaboneau were in a country as strange 
to them as it was to any other member of the expe- 
dition. Even the Indian woman could not say, 
though down one or the other, she knew not which, 
she had been carried by her Minnetaree captors. 
The northern branch was narrow and deeper and 
had the color of the Missouri, while the other was 
shallow and clear and gave less promise of being 
the main stream. 

Pitching camp here, three men were sent up each 
stream in a canoe with orders to observe the depth 
and character of the waters and return at night 
with a report, while others were sent by land to 
the tops of the highest hills to observe, if possible, 
the direction of the streams. 

On the return of the various parties a consulta- 
tion was held which resulted only in divided coun- 
sels, some having one opinion, others the opposite. 
It was finally determined to make a more thorough 
exploration, so Captain Lewis, taking with him six 
men, went up the north branch, while Captain 
Clark, taking five others, went up the south branch. 
In the course of four days the two parties met 
again at the camp. Captain Clark having been gone 


212 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


two days and Captain Lewis four. Two days had 
been sufficient to warrant the former in deciding 
that the north branch was not the main river. He 
had gone forty-five miles, and after many en- 
counters with a fierce current and numerous grizzly 
bears, returned fully convinced that the stream 
led too far to the north. Lewis had gone fifty-nine 
miles, most of the way wading with his men in the 
ice-cold current, while they dragged their boats 
over stones and through narrow gorges, well-nigh 
impassable. 

It was on this trip that Lewis and one of his 
men, Windsor, nearly lost their lives. Leaving a 
few of the men to look after the boat, the remainder 
sought to pass along a narrow ledge nearly one 
hundred feet above the water. Having scarcely 
room for a foothold. Captain Lewis slipped, but 
by thrusting his spontoon into the earth, caught 
himself just in time to prevent his falling to the 
rocks below. No sooner had he recovered himself 
than a cry of despair arose from some one behind 
him. 

Good God, Captain, what shall I do? ” 

Turning quickly, the captain beheld Windsor, 
who had slipped to the very edge of the precipice, 
lying with his right arm and right leg hanging 


THE SHINING MOUNTAINS 


213 


over the edge and holding to a tuft of bushes with 
his left hand. 

There is no danger, Windsor, cried the cap- 
tain, knowing that the man^s safety depended upon 
his keeping his nerve. ‘ ^ Take your knife and cut 
a hole for your foot. Steady, now. You are 
safe, if you mind what I say. Keep cool. ’ ^ 

The unfortunate man with his free right hand 
worked his knife from his belt and, pegging away 
at the hard rock beneath him until he had cut a 
foothold, placed his right foot in it and raised 
himself to his hands and knees. 

Steady now. Crawl up here,’’ said the cap- 
tain firmly, till I can reach you.” 

By a superhuman effort the man drew grad- 
ually away from the edge of the cliff. Then, at 
the captain’s suggestion, he cut his moccasins 
from his feet and crawled on hands and feet 
between the captains and their men. Every one 
just started on the perilous path stood transfixed 
with fear for their comrades. 

Go back,” shouted Captain Lewis, and 
come up through the river.” 

Although the current was breast-high and cold 
as ice, coming as it did from the caverns and can- 
yons of the mountains, the men obeyed, cutting 


214 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


their feet upon the sharp rocks and barely escap- 
ing being torn from their footing and hurled into 
the seething torrent. 

When the two exploring parties met again at the 
junction of the two rivers a consultation was held 
between the captains and their men. Every one 
was asked to give an opinion. Strange to say, both 
captains agreed that the southern branch was the 
true Missouri, while every member of the party, 
including the Frenchmen and the Indian woman, 
argued for the northern branch. 

The captains persisted in their opinions and 
gave orders to take the southern branch. Before 
starting, however, it was determined to bury here 
some of the supplies, as it was evident they could 
not transport all they now carried by the way of 
the rapidly narrowing current, and that it would 
be wise to leave provisions and supplies here to 
await their return the following summer. 

The question of how to conceal the stuff so as not 
to make its hiding place known to the Indians gave 
the captains some concern. Chaboneau was equal 
to the occasion and was at once given the superin- 
tendence of the work. He had seen the Indians 
conceal their stores when about to go upon the 
warpath, and their method he proposed to use. 


THE SHINING MOUNTAINS 


215 


You must cut/^ said he, a circle of sod about 
two feet across, and remove it as nearly whole as 
you can, so it can be put back. Dig down straight 
for a foot or two, then widen out the hole to a depth 
of six or seven feet. The hole will then look like 
the inside of a big kettle. Every bit of the dirt 
taken out must be dumped into the river, so that 
no trace of it will remain. In the hole make a floor 
of dry sticks and cover it with green grass, and 
over that a covering of skins, and again a layer of 
dirt. Line the hole with dry branches and grass. 
Now put in your supplies and cover them with 
skins. Pack in the dirt and cover the mouth 
with sod. In this way you have a secure, dry 
cache that not even the lynx-eyed Indian can dis- 
cover. ’ ^ 

The captain at once saw the advantage of the 
plan and proceeded to carry it out. Some of the 
men went to work unloading the pirogues and 
canoes, while others dug two holes as described by 
Chaboneau, one (the larger one) for the corn, pork, 
flour, powder, and lead for bullets — a thousand 
pounds’ weight in all — and the other and smaller 
one for tools and specimens collected along the 
way. 

After caching everything that could be spared 


216 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


the earth was packed in, the sod replaced, and 
every sign of the work obliterated. 

It would be unnecessary, with their diminished 
cargo, to take farther both pirogues. The red one 
had given the most trouble, so it was drawn up in 
the middle of a small island near the confluence of 
the two streams, fastened to trees by its cable and 
left, with the hope that on the return of the party 
it might still be there and in condition for use on 
the trip home down the Missouri. Then, christen- 
ing the north branch Maria’s Eiver, they pro- 
ceeded with the white pirogue and the six canoes 
down the south branch, which the captains had 
decided was the true Missouri. 

They were now coming into the country of the 
devils of the prairies and mountains — the Black- 
feet, whose continual wars with the Flatheads and 
the Crows of the upper Missouri, and the Snake 
Indians up in the mountains at the sources of the 
Missouri, made them a most ferocious and danger- 
ous neighbor. 

<< Why,” asked Shannon of Chaboneau, are 
they called the Blackfeet? Are they like York? 

Chaboneau laughed. 

No man knows the reason,” he said. ‘‘ It is 
the story that when they were first seen in this 


'' THE SHINING MO U NT AIN 8 " 217 

region it was after they had tramped for miles 
over charred prairie grass, which blackened their 
feet. No better reason,’^ said he, can be given 
for the names of many other of the Indian tribes 
of this Western country. You can search for days 
among the Flatheads to find an Indian whose head 
is any flatter than that of the Indian of any other 
nation. The Nez Perc^, or Pierced Noses, do not 
wear rings in their noses or have holes bored in 
them, as you might think. You will find as many 
slim Indians among the Grosventres, or Big Bel- 
lies, as there are among other nations. 

‘‘ Then how do they get their names? asked 
Shannon, perplexed. 

‘‘ By some incident or circumstance that may 
have happened long years ago in their history as 
a tribe, replied the guide. Names are given 
among the Indians often for fanciful reasons, and 
ofttimes they themselves cannot tell you how or 
where they originated. ^ ^ 

It was now about the first of June. Eapidly the 
scenery was taking on a grandeur that impressed 
every member of the company, excepting the stolid 
Indian woman, with solemn thoughts of all that 
must be undergone before they could hope to 
see the triumph of their hopes. It was evi- 


218 THE BOY PATHFINDER 

dent that very soon even the canoes must be 
abandoned. 

Sacajawea had informed the captains that at 
the headwaters of the Missouri lived her people, 
the Shoshones. She said they possessed many 
horses and that she would prevail upon them to 
trade with the white men, so that they could obtain 
means for transporting their goods across the 
mountains, and into some stream that, flowing into 
the great western river, would bear them to the 
ocean. 

On June 13th, after a six days’ tramp, during 
which the hunters killed some deer and buffalo, 
which were now becoming scarce, and hung them 
by the river’s side for the use of the party in the 
canoes as they came along, Captain Lewis, who was 
one of their number, heard a murmur as of the 
falling of water in the distance. Pressing on, 
hopeful that they were approaching the great falls 
which Sacajawea had told him they must pass 
before they should reach the country of the Sho- 
shones, he beheld columns of spray rising above 
the plain, cloudlike and sparkling in the sun, and 
at the same time heard with joy unspeakable the 
music of roaring waters, which seemed to come 
from the very bowels of the earth. 


THE SHINING MOUNTAINS** 


219 


Though tired and footsore with days of tramp- 
ing over the mountains, he called to his com- 
panions, “ Come, men, ’tis the falls,’’ and ran 
toward the river, which was some seven miles 
away. At every step the spray seemed to shoot 
higher into the heavens and the roar from out the 
earth to grow in depth and volume. At last, ar- 
riving at the summit of a steep mountain that 
bordered the river a half mile below the lowest of 
the great cataracts, they ran tumultuously down it, 
shouting in their joy, now that they knew they 
were at the falls of the Missouri and not many 
days’ travel from the land of the Shoshones. 

No more grand and inspiring sight ever met the 
eye of man than that which here met the eyes of 
white men for the first time. Seating themselves 
on a rock beneath the first cataract, they beheld 
the great river, three hundred yards in width, run- 
ning between cliffs a hundred feet high and a mile 
long, toppling over a precipice eighty-seven feet 
into a dark cavern whose walls echoed and re- 
echoed its roar and sent its spray in flying col- 
umns with all the colors of the rainbow high to 
the heavens. 

Shields,” said Captain Lewis, after they had 
sat for a full hour drinking in the beauty of the 


220 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


scene, go down the river and tell Clark to make 
haste. Tell him we have reached the falls of the 
Missonri. Say that I will go on for a few days to 
discover a route by which we may take the canoes 
and baggage overland. Tell him I will join him 
here as soon as I have gone above the falls and 
found water that our canoes may navigate. I 
shall hunt here for two days so that Captain Clark 
may have provisions when he arrives, and then I 
shall push on. ’ ’ 

So Shields went away and Lewis and his men 
set about providing the humps, tongues, and mar- 
rowbones of the buffalo, and fishing the river for 
whitefish and trout that sported among the rocks 
in wanton abundance. 

Then leaving a note for Captain Clark tacked to 
a pole at the edge of the water advising him where 
he should find the provisions, he pushed up the 
river to discover new surprises in a series of 
beautiful falls and cataracts extending for ten 
miles, the measurement of whose total fall he took 
at four hundred and twelve and one-half feet. 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE LONG POETAGE — THE KING OF WHITE BEAE 
ISLAND WOLVES 

At this time Captain Lewis seemed to bear a 
charmed life. Every day brought its measure of 
danger, and every day an overruling Providence 
held his life in sacred keeping. The country about 
the falls was alive with giant grizzlies that fre- 
quented the shores to watch for the dead bodies of 
buffaloes that came down over the falls, an easy 
prey to their savage and hungry enemy. Great 
herds of buffaloes at the upper end of the falls 
were met by Captain Lewis, in some cases so tame 
that he often walked unnoticed to within rifle shot, 
and scarcely did the shot of a rifle frighten them 
into running. 

One day death seemed close upon the captain’s 
heels. He had shot a buffalo that was among a 
herd of over one thousand, near the banks of the 
river. While he stood watching it fall a grizzly 
arose on its haunches not twenty steps away. The 
captain’s rifle was empty. He turned and the bear 
221 


222 


TEE FOY PATHFINDER 


started for him. Eunning to the river he jumped 
in, the bear close at his heels. When he had 
reached a depth of water that prevented his going 
farther without swimming, he turned and met the 
bear with his lifted spontoon. At once the beast 
turned and slunk away into the bushes. Within an 
hour after meeting with this adventure a mountain 
lion crouched in his path, prepared to spring upon 
him. He was saved by a quick retreat only to 
find himself chased by three buffalo bulls. That 
night he slept alone under the stars and awakened 
to find a huge rattlesnake poised on a limb above 
him, its tongue darting angrily, and its body coiled 
ready to strike. 

In a few days Captain Lewis had established a 
camp above the falls on an island, called by him 
White Bear Island, because its possession was dis- 
puted by a ferocious grizzly, and had started back 
to meet Clark, who, with the boats, was awaiting 
him below the falls. 

Eleven days, from June 21st to July 2d, the 
entire party worked at the transportation of the 
canoes and their cargoes by land to White Bear 
Island, a distance of seventeen and three-quarter 
miles. Perhaps no period of the entire journey 
from the Mississippi to the ocean was more trying 


THE LONG POET AGE 


223 


to the spirits and bodies of the men than this. 
Every obstacle that nature could impose stood in 
their way. The ground was covered with sharp 
stones and prickly pears that cut the moccasins of 
the men and pierced their feet. Wild beasts on 
every hand disputed their progress. Clouds of 
mosquitoes made life a burden. Stripped to the 
waist, storms of sleet and hail beat upon and 
bruised their naked backs. Sickness invaded the 
company. As if to put a climax to their troubles, 
Sacajawea lay upon a bed of skins stricken with a 
raging fever. For a time her life was despaired 
of. To lose the Bird Woman was to lose her upon 
whom the captains pinned their hope of assistance 
when they should arrive in the country of the Sho- 
shones and the baggage and provisions must be 
carried from the headwaters of the Missouri across 
to the headwaters of the Columbia. They had 
depended upon her to aid them in obtaining from 
her people, whom she reported as being rich in 
horses, the means by which to pass this critical 
point in their journey. Twice a day the captains 
visited the young squaw, and every means known 
to the Indian and the white man was used to re- 
store her to health. The waters of a sulphur 
stream near by were found to give relief, and great 


224 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


was the rejoicing when the Bird Woman left her 
conch of buffalo skins and, with her papoose 
strapped to her back, again trudged along behind 
her husband. 

Three camps were used during the portage, one 
just below the falls, over which Captain Clark pre- 
sided; another nearly eighteen miles away, above 
the falls, at White Bear Island, superintended by 
Captain Lewis, and one midway between the two. 
The canoes were too heavy to be dragged or car- 
ried, so wagons had to be made. Sergeant Gass, 
with six men, tramped miles to find cottonwood 
trees two feet in diameter from whose trunks they 
could cut solid wheels. With holes hewn through 
the centers of these, axles made from the masts of 
the white pirogue, and a rude frame of poles, ve- 
hicles were constructed on which the canoes and 
much of the baggage were loaded and then dragged 
over the rough and stony ground. Time and time 
again the axles broke and others had to be sup- 
plied. As some went in search of the material for 
these, others fell asleep in their tracks, exhausted 
by their pain and labor. It was while they were 
thus groaning under the burden of their great 
loads that a sudden hailstorm, such as frequently 
visits the mountains, broke upon them, wounding 


THE LONG PORTAGE 


225 


and bruising their naked flesh with icy stones over 
an inch in diameter and ounces in weight. 

Before beginning the portage, miscellaneous 
supplies, including a writing desk belonging to 
Captain Lewis, a grindstone brought from Har- 
per ^s Ferry, specimens, a map, and the swivel gun 
were hidden in a cache under the rocks below the 
falls. Here, too, the white pirogue was left in a 
copse of willows. 

During these eleven days Captain Clark nearly 
lost his life, as did others of the party. With 
Chaboneau, Sacajawea, and the negro, York, he 
was overtaken by a sudden storm of wind and rain 
and took refuge in a deep ravine, where he awaited 
its passage. Suddenly, with a tremendous roar 
and crash, the waters rushed down the ravine, 
carrying trees and rocks in a great flood. Clark 
shouted to his comrades a warning of their danger 
and was at once breast-high in the raging torrent. 
Sacajawea snatched her infant from its bed of 
netting, and lifting it high in the air, placed it in 
the hands of Chaboneau on a shelving rock above, 
then, helped by Clark, she scrambled to a point of 
safety. Following, Captain Clark by superhuman 
efforts leaped from the angry torrent, losing his 
rifle, his knife, and his compass. 


226 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


At last the portage was completed and all stood 
upon the banks of White Bear Island. 

I shall not leave this spot/’ said Captain 
Clark, until the grizzly that has given us so 
much trouble here is conquered. We will organize 
an army and move upon him to-day, and to the 
man who kills the rascal I will give the best knife 
among our stores.” 

Twelve of the best hunters in the party joined 
Captain Clark in the search, and among them 
Shannon. 

White Bear Island, where the hunt was to take 
place, was a small island of some three acres in 
extent, located in the middle of the river, thickly 
covered with trees and dense underbrush. Its sur- 
face was broken and rocky, making it an ideal 
home for the grizzly. 

The big bear that held dominion over this little 
island had driven otf several small parties who 
had landed to search for cottonwoods big enough 
for the making of canoes. All attempts to dislodge 
him having met with failure, and now the work of 
transporting the cargo around the falls having 
been accomplished, it was suggested that the hunt- 
ers turn their attention to the surly monarch who 
had so stubbornly stood in their way. The pro- 


THE LONG PORTAGE 


227 


posal was eagerly agreed to and tlie men selected 
for the enterprise set out in the highest spirits. 

Two canoes carried the hunters across the cur- 
rent that separated the island from the mainland, 
and shortly after sunrise the search was begun. 
Captain Clark disposed his men so that in the ad- 
vance across the island they could sweep every foot 
of the territory and he sure to come upon the 
enemy sooner or later. In the arrangement of the 
men Shannon found himself at one end of the line, 
his nearest neighbor being Lepage, some fifty 
yards away. The advance through the jumble of 
rocks, bushes, and fallen timbers was slow and 
laborious, and it was not long before the line which 
at first advanced with military precision was 
broken, and Shannon found himself pushing on 
alone. The situation was not a pleasant one, but 
it brought no fear to the boy’s heart. He knew 
that, unaided and alone, he was no match for the 
monstrous grizzly they were hunting. But he also 
knew that the crack of his rifle could be heard by 
at least three or four of his comrades, and that if 
relief were needed it was within reach. 

Pushing his way through the tangled under- 
brush, he stopped from time to time to listen and 
to peer among the rocks and bushes for some sound 


22S 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


or sight that might indicate the presence of the 
enemy. Bruised by rocks that cut through the 
soles of his moccasins, and hemmed in by the 
mass of underbrush, he stopped for a moment, 
bewildered. Suddenly he heard a heavy trampling 
of the bushes not twenty yards away. Putting 
aside the underbrush, he saw before him the most 
startling display of animal strength and ferocity 
he had ever seen. He was face to face with the 
grizzled king of White Bear Island. Reared on 
its haunches the bear was pawing the air with his 
big fore claws, his jaws wide open and his teeth 
glistening. Dull as is the scent of a bear, he had 
discovered the proximity of an enemy. At once 
the boy ^s rifle was at his shoulder and the ball went 
tearing its way directly to the animal ’s skull. The 
wound was not mortal. It sank into the tough 
muscle, struck the frontal bone, and glancing up, 
went harmless into the air. At once the beast came 
down upon all fours with a growl of rage and de- 
fiance that fairly shook the earth. For Shannon 
to stand his ground and await the attack was for 
him to commit suicide, so, turning, the young 
hunter plunged into the thicket, striking the bushes 
aside with his arms, stumbling, leaping, and crawl- 
ing over the rocks, trying as best he could, at the 


THE LONG PORTAGE 


229 


same time, to reload his gun. His thought was of 
the river. If he could but reach the stream he 
might, with the aid of a canoe, save himself. With 
this purpose in view he plunged wildly on, con- 
scious at every bound that the bear was gaining 
upon him. At last, an opening through the trees 
gave him a glimpse of the water, and a moment 
later he stood upon the bank — but the boats had 
gone! The boatmen had been instructed to take 
the boats around to the other side of the island. 
They were far on their way when the now 
thoroughly frightened hunter made his appear- 
ance. What should he do ? There was little time 
to plan. A tree stood on the very edge of the 
river ^s bank. Under the bank lay heaps of jagged 
rocks. If he could but reach that tree. A grizzly 
cannot climb any distance. If he could but reach 
the first branch he might escape those terrible 
claws. These thoughts rushing through his mind 
lent wings to his feet. It took but a moment to 
reach the foot of the tree where, standing on tiptoe 
and laying his gun across two friendly branches, he 
drew himself quickly up and out of harm^s way, 
but not without having left a moccasin in the cruel 
teeth of the monster and feeling the warm blood 
trickling from his ankle. 


230 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


From the lowest branch it was an easy ascent to 
the one above. Beaching this, for the first time he 
dared to look down. The hear had risen on his 
hind legs and had gotten his fore paws over the 
first limb and was slowly drawing himself up. 
Quickly Shannon drew a pistol from his belt. 
Taking quick aim between the two round, burning 
eyes that glared up at him, he fired, and upon 
that shot rested the issue of the strife. Peering 
through the smoke the boy heard what caused his 
heart to leap. A heavy, jolting sound among the 
rocks beneath told the story. Stunned by the 
bullet, the beast had lost its hold and, falling head- 
long from the bank, had dashed out its brains on 
the jagged edge of a great rock. 

The shot in the thicket a few minutes before had 
been heard by several of the other hunters, who 
now came bounding out of the woods, to find Shan- 
non clambering out of the treQ and pointing exult- 
ingly at the great, shaggy beast that lay stretched 
upon the ground at the edge of the water, dead. 

The prize is yours. Shannon,^’ said Captain 
Clark, who was the first of the men to reach him. 

You have beaten us all, but if some one other 
than myself had to bag the game, I do not know of 
any one I would rather see do it than yourself. ^ ’ 



The bear had risen on his hind leg-s. — Page 230 






■ 


THE LONG PORTAGE 231 

I couldn’t help it, Captain; it was either his 
life or mine,” replied Shannon, laughing. 

While the work of skinning the animal and cut- 
ting up the meat was in progress the remainder of 
the party, who had not heard the signal and had 
crossed the island, were seen returning with the 
boats. 

At nightfall juicy bear steaks were sizzling over 
the fire at White Bear Island camp. Shannon’s 
health was drunk in bumpers of clear water and 
he was voted the best hunter of the expedition, the 
sentiment being proposed by Captain Lewis him- 
self. 

Captain Lewis had determined that before going 
farther the iron frame of the boat he had brought 
all the way from Harper’s Ferry should be cov- 
ered with skins and put into service. So he and 
the others who had not joined in the hunt had re- 
mained behind to finish up the boat and launch it. 

For days the hunters had been seeking elk-skins 
with which to cover the sides and bottom. Twenty- 
eight of these, with four buffalo skins, had been 
carefully dried, scraped of their hair and sewed 
together, so that they were now ready to be 
stretched on to the frame. 

Captain Lewis’s eagerness had lent enthusiasm 


232 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


to their efforts, and speedily the boat was made 
ready for launching. With great expectations they 
now pushed it into the water. Proudly did Captain 
Lewis note that she floated as if in her native ele- 
ment. That day was J uly 9th, the day of the hunt ; 
on the next they were to set out. 

I christen her The Experiment/* said Lewis, 
as she slid into the water, and many were the con- 
gratulations he received from Clark and the re- 
turning hunters when they found the beautiful 
craft, thirty-six feet in length, four and a half in 
width, and two and a sixth in depth, riding upon 
the surface of the river as gracefully as a swan. 

The next morning preparations were early be- 
gun for the start, but great was the consternation 
of all when those who had gone to look after The 
Experiment, returned with the report that she 
was full of water. 

An examination showed that the mixture of char- 
coal, beeswax, and buffalo tallow that had been 
used to smear the seams and make her water- 
tight had, on drying, cracked and fallen away, 
leaving great openings into which the water had 
found its way. Captain Lewis’s disappointment 
knew no bounds. Under his own superintendence 
the great iron frame had been constructed at 


THE LONG PORTAGE 


233 


Harper’s Ferry. With infinite difficulty and pains 
it had been carried from there across the Alle- 
ghenies to Pittsburg, down the Ohio to St. Louis, 
and thence by the Missouri to the heart of the 
Rockies, only to prove useless because tar had not 
been provided and nothing could serve to take its 
place. 

No other course remained, therefore, hut for 
Clark and ten of his men to search for timber with 
which to make two additional canoes. Tramping 
up the river for many miles, they finally found the 
cottonwoods of a sufficient size for the new boats, 
and on July 15th the expedition was again pre- 
pared for the advance. 

In a few days the party found themselves out of 
the buffalo country, and the question of fresh meat 
fast becoming a vital one. Each day the camp 
required for its existence four deer, or an elk and 
a deer, or one buffalo, and now days passed with- 
out the sight of elk, deer, buffalo, or bear. Rap- 
idly, too, the river was narrowing and the crags 
coming nearer and nearer to the margin of the 
water. For days at a time scarcely could there be 
found room on the shores for a camp. 

Now they began to look for the Shoshones. On 
July 28th they reached a point where three streams 


234 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


united to form the Missouri. This, Sacajawea 
announced, was the place where she had been 
taken prisoner by the Minnetarees. She told the 
story. Here her people erected their huts. One 
night, attacked by a superior force of the Min- 
netarees, they were driven three miles up the 
southwestern branch where, concealing themselves 
in the woods, they sought to escape. The men 
among her people, mounted on swift horses, all 
succeeded in leaving their enemies behind, except- 
ing four who fell, with as many women and a num- 
ber of boys. The women and children, having no 
horses, scattered at the first attack, hiding them- 
selves in the bushes and among the rocks. Saca- 
jawea, then but twelve years of age, attempted to 
ford the river, but, before she was halfway across, 
a Minnetaree warrior, jumping in after her, made 
her his prisoner. Then, in company with other 
women of her tribe and many children, she was 
carried far down the Missouri until, at last, in the 
country of the Man dans, she was sold to Cha- 
boneau, the French trapper and adventurer. 

Yet even now, though in the midst of scenes 
familiar to her as the home of her people, and with 
the recollection pressing upon her of the death of 
her kinsmen and the defeat of her tribe, she dis- 


THE LONG PORTAGE 


235 


played no emotion, seeming perfectly satisfied with 
enough to eat and all the trinkets she wished to 
wear. 

‘‘We are now three thousand miles from the 
mouth of the Missouri,’’ said Captain Lewis, as 
the men conferred together as to which of the 
three branches they should ascend. ‘ ‘ Another ten 
days and we ought to drink of the spring out of 
which it fiows. Let us name the southwest fork 
the Jefferson, after him who has made this expedi- 
tion possible ; the middle branch we will call Mad- 
ison, after the Secretary of State, and the third 
Gallatin, after the Secretary of the Treasury. I 
cast my vote for going up the Jefferson.” 

“ Agreed,” said Clark; “ the Jefferson, by all 
means. We have had good luck in our choice of 
southwest branches. But what says Sacajawea? ” 

The Indian woman threw her vote with that of 
the captains, and that settled it. 

Another week brought them to another juncture 
of three streams, one of which they called Wisdom, 
another Philanthropy, and the third, which fiowed 
in between the other two, Jefferson. A short dis- 
tance below they had passed the mouth of another 
small river which they called Philosophy. 

It being determined now to direct the course of 


236 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


the expedition up the Wisdom River, Shannon was 
sent out to hunt, with instructions to join the 
party at nightfall. It was a glorious day and the 
boy was in the best of spirits. After reaching the 
ridge above the river he set off across a rolling 
plain, bounded at its far edge by a clump of trees. 
After a half hour’s tramp, during which he scanned 
the prairie with keen eyes for signs of life, he saw 
at a distance a number of animals not much bigger 
than jackrabbits. On drawing nearer them he saw 
they were antelopes. An antelope steak had been 
a rare dish in camp for some days. Here was a 
chance to cheer the hearts of the men. Approach- 
ing the animals by creeping along close to the 
earth, he finally reached a point where they could 
plainly see him. Then taking from his neck a col- 
ored handkerchief, he prepared to flag them. 
Tying two corners of the handkerchief to his ram- 
rod, he crept up over a little ridge of rising ground 
and planted his flag. The breeze caught it at once 
and in a moment a score of curious eyes were 
watching it narrowly. Then the animals trotted 
forward a few yards and abruptly stopped. An- 
other moment and they turned and ran away, only 
to stop again and look back. Again they faced the 
flag and came towards it, and again they retreated. 


TEE LONG PORTAGE 


237 


This performance they repeated a third time, the 
last time coming within forty rods of Shannon's 
rifle. They were now close enough. The rifle was 
at the hoy^s shoulder as he lay in the grass, his 
head just on the edge of the little ridge. Taking 
aim at the breast of a fine doe, he pulled the trig- 
ger. The dust flew in clouds and the pack scam- 
pered away; but, bounding to his feet. Shannon 
saw that his aim had been true. A fine, fat ante- 
lope lay stretched upon the grass. Then, having 
skinned and cut up his prize, he trudged into the 
woods and down into a rough, broken tract of 
country where were many promises of game. 

By the middle of the afternoon the young hunter 
had killed two deer and, his pack having become 
heavy, he set out to return to the boats. Walking 
for an hour toward the river, as he thought, he 
found the country growing wilder and becoming 
more and more unfamiliar. Was he then going in 
the wrong direction ? The sun was hidden behind 
dense clouds and he could not determine the way 
by it. The woods were thin and well exposed to 
the sun on all sides, so he could not tell from the 
length of the branches. Again he was lost. He re- 
membered the time when, for sixteen days, he had 
been lost in the forest and how near he came then 


238 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


to starving. He examined his ammunition and felt 
that there was little occasion this time for fear on 
that score. The woods were full of game, but to 
be lost in this part of the world, with no hope of 
meeting with friendly Indians and a thousand 
miles from the habitation of a white man, was no 
pleasant prospect. He was fearful, too, that after 
this second experience the captains would lose 
faith in him entirely. Then he tried to retrace his 
steps, but when night came he found himself in a 
little ravine that looked unfamiliar in the gath- 
ering gloom. Here he determined to spend the 
night; so, lighting a fire, he cut some ribbons of 
antelope haunch, set them over the fire, and 
watched them as they sizzled and sputtered. There 
was no need of a fork. Fingers were good enough 
for a hungry hunter, when aided by a big hunting 
knife. An antelope steak, some hard biscuits, and 
a draught from a little pool that caught the drops 
that fell from a shelf of rocks overhead made a 
good supper, and served to steady his nerves and 
dispel the fear that at times forced itself upon him. 
He planted two forked sticks in the ground some 
six feet apart, and on these laid a third; against 
this cross-piece he laid branches until he had a 
sort of tent; then, renewing his fire, which was 


TEE LONG PORTAGE 


239 


smoldering near the entrance of his make-believe 
hut, he crawled in and lay down to sleep. The 
wind was whistling through the trees, but he was 
used to that. Many such a night he had slept in 
the Ohio woods. The night cries of the mountains 
soon swelled into an hundred-part chorus. He 
grasped his gun the tighter and lay peering 
through the covering of his leafy tent. The fire 
burned low, and he thought he heard stealthy foot- 
steps as of an animal slowly making its way in a 
circle about him. He crept from his bed and re- 
plenished the fire. As the flames sprang up he 
thought he saw a pair of sharp eyes glaring out 
from under a bush. Picking up a burning brand 
he hurled it at the two fiery spots, and a crackling 
of the leaves and branches and a surly growl told 
him that the intruder had slunk away. 

A little later he again heard some animal mak- 
ing the circuit of his camp. 

^ ‘ The old rascal nas returned, ^ ’ he said to him- 
self. ^ ‘ He will not be satisfied until he has a dose 
of cold lead.’’ 

But, try as he might, he could not get his eyes 
on the disturber of his dreams. He could see only 
a shadowy form slip by just out of the edge of the 
light. He lay still, following the sound as best he 


240 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


could, hoping that the wolf — for now he knew it 
must be one of these night prowlers — ^would come 
squarely into view so that he could get a shot. 
Suddenly from up the ravine he heard the cry of 
another wolf, followed by that of still another. 

They are going to give me a chorus! Very 
well. I’ll add a note or two of my own to their 
serenade.” 

Then he sat up, got a support for the barrel of 
his gun, and waited. Ere long a score of weird 
forms were trailing in a circle about him. 

* ‘ It only lacks Cruzatte and his fiddle to make a 
dance,” thought Shannon, smiling grimly. 

The fire had now died down. To fetch more fuel 
meant exposure to danger, so the boy waited. With 
the dying out of ember after ember, the crawling 
circle narrowed perceptibly. At times the beasts 
grew bold, and one showed himself in the open, 
gaunt and grizzled; but Shannon held his fire. 
He would not waste ammunition, but make every 
shot tell. At last the danger of his position 
stirred him to action. The fire had nearly gone 
out. A few moments more and he would be in 
darkness. The wolves were snarling all about him. 
They could scent him and the fresh meat in his 
pack, but they could not see him. Suddenly it 


THE LONG PORTAGE 


241 


occurred to him that he must in some way keep 
the fire burning. Springing up suddenly, he 
threw his covering of leaves and boughs onto the 
smoldering ashes. The action was so sudden that 
the wolves leaped away snarling and snapping at 
one another in their anger. But the boughs did not 
catch, for they were mostly green and the embers 
were too feeble. The wolves now returned to the 
attack. Shannon's rifle swept the circle, but he 
could not make sure of his aim. In another 
moment,’^ he thought, they will be upon me.’’ 
Grasping his pouch he threw a large ribbon of 
meat far over their heads. The whole pack, scent- 
ing the morsel, sprang after it and a terrible fight 
ensued. The taste of the raw flesh rendered the 
beasts more ferocious, but it gave the boy a mo- 
ment to look after his fire. Hastily kicking to- 
gether some dry leaves and throwing them over 
the coals, at the same time blowing gently, he saw 
the leaves catch, and then the twigs, and a moment 
later a blaze two feet high crackled and snapped. 
Then springing forward toward the struggling, 
savage mass, the boy took deliberate aim and 
fired. One of the animals bounded into the air, but 
scarce had it reached the earth ere its companions 
leaped upon it and tore it into a thousand shreds. 


242 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


Now is my time/^ cried Shannon, and after 
quickly reloading he ran for more fuel, this time 
piling the fire high with dry and decaying 
branches, into which the flames shot greedily, 
sending sparks to the very tree-tops. Then 
standing, his back to the crackling fire, he cried, 
“ Come on, I can keep this up all night. And 
they did come on, for the taste of blood added to 
their fierce hunger. Crack! went the boy’s rifle 
at a pair of glowing eyes, followed by another 
bloody scramble. Again and again the beasts re- 
turned to the attack, until half a dozen of their 
number had fallen, and then the remainder, glutted 
by their feast, slunk away. 

But there was no more sleep for the hunter. All 
night he sat with his back to the fire, watching 
intently every movement of the branches and lis- 
tening to the hoot of the owls overhead, while his 
thoughts wandered away to his comrades sleeping 
snugly about their campfire by the river’s side, 
safe under the watchful eye of a keen sentinel. 

At the first break of day, without waiting for 
breakfast, he started otf down the ravine, arguing 
that it must empty its little stream into the Wis- 
dom Eiver, on whose surface somewhere floated 
the boats. 


THE LONG PORTAGE 


243 


The young hunter was right in his reasoning, 
for after an hour’s walk he came to the banks of 
the Wisdom. But the boats could not come this 
far. It is so shallow they never can have passed 
here, ’ ’ he said to himself. Then he made a careful 
search for evidences of a towline being dragged 
through the bushes that lined both banks, but none 
could be found. 

The boats are below,” he said, and at once 
set off. 

For some hours Shannon trudged wearily down 
the stream, carrying his load of skins and meat. 
At last he reached the forks of the Wisdom and 
Jetferson, and there, tacked to a tree, he found an 
explanation of the mystery. The captains had 
found the Wisdom unnavigable and had returned 
and gone up the Jetferson. Another night and 
another day passed; then he came up with the 
hindmost canoe, and his halloo was answered by a 
cheer from his anxious comrades on board. 

Captain Lewis had been worrying over the 
young man’s safety and welcomed him with no 
upbraiding, for the change in the course of the 
boats had been mostly to blame for the misad- 
venture. 


CHAPTEE XV 


CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT AND THE SHOSHONES 

At the Bird Woman’s suggestion men were now 
sent out every day to look for Indians. 

‘ ‘ There is the summer home of the Shoshones, ’ ’ 
said she, pointing to a jutting point of the high 
plain which looked for all the world like a beaver’s 
head. 

So for several days the hunters kept a keen 
lookout for signs of the red men. Never during 
the entire course of the expedition were the cap- 
tains more anxious than now, for the least false 
step or the least suspicious circumstance might 
arouse the fears of the Shoshones, upon whom 
everything depended for the safe-conduct of the 
party from the source of the Missouri, now 
scarcely ten miles away, to the headwaters of the 
Columbia, from which the Bird Woman informed 
them they were distant not over forty miles. 

On August 9th Captain Lewis chose Drouillard, 
Shields, and McNeal, and set out over the moun- 
tains ahead of the boats, asserting stoutly that he 
244 


CHIEF CAMEAEWAIT 245 

would not return until he had seen the Indians. 
For two days they traveled over difficult mountain 
passes, and on the third discovered an Indian trail, 
but it was many days old ; a large party had passed 
over the ground on horseback. Encouraged, how- 
ever, by this sign, they pushed along the trail, 
eagerly scanning the country round about for signs 
of Indians. By arrangement the men separated 
as they proceeded, so as to cover as wide an extent 
of country as possible, but keeping within hailing 
distance. 

In a few hours after they struck the trail Cap- 
tain Lewis, sweeping the country before him with 
his glass, saw a figuire approaching on horseback. 
It was fully two miles away. Concealing himself 
and keeping his eye to his glass, he soon discovered 
that the object was an Indian and that he belonged 
to a different nation from any the party had yet 
seen. He was astride a splendid horse, rode with- 
out saddle and, as Captain Lewis learned later, 
guided the animal by means of a rope of buffalo 
hair twisted together. One end was tied around 
the horse’s neck in a knot, then brought down to 
the under jaw, around which it formed a noose 
passing through the mouth, and then was drawn 
up on the right side and held by the rider in the 


246 TEE BOY PATHFINDER 

left hand. The end of the bridle or halter hung 
nearly to the ground. The horse’s ears were cut 
to a point, and its mane and tail, which were long 
and sweeping, were decorated with feathers of 
birds, while hanging from its breast by a cord were 
eagles’ talons, hears’ claws, and other ornaments. 
The Indian’s weapons were a long bow and a 
quiver full of arrows. 

Captain Lewis ’s first anxiety was lest he should 
alarm the Indian, for to do this would probably he 
for the Indian to turn and, galloping with all speed 
back over the trail, spread news that might bring 
down upon him and his little party a multitude of 
hostile savages. 

The brave explorer was now in a country where 
a white man had never before been seen. He must 
act with great prudence, or not only his own life 
but the lives of all in the party might pay the 
penalty. 

By some means he must inform his three com- 
panions, whom he could see approaching at a dis- 
tance behind him, of the state of affairs, and induce 
them to halt and conceal themselves, while he alone 
advanced to make friends with the stranger. If 
the Indian should see four men approaching, it 
would surely be more than his nerves could stand. 


CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT 


247 


But every effort of the captain to get the atten- 
tion of his men failed. He dared not shout to the 
men, so he concluded to proceed without regard to 
them. Boldly presenting himself in the middle of 
the trail, he walked slowly toward the advancing 
horseman. When within a mile of the Indian the 
latter pulled up his horse, bent low over its neck, 
and seemed to be watching, with every sense alert, 
the figure approaching him. Captain Lewis felt 
that it was time to act, so stopping, he drew from 
his knapsack a colored blanket, held it by two of 
its corners, shook it in the air, and made a motion 
as if to spread it on the ground. Again he made 
the motion, and a third time. Among Indians 
generally this act is recognized as a sign of friend- 
ship and hospitality. All the time the other white 
men were coming on. The captain motioned to 
them to stop, but it was too late. The Indian had 
seen them. Two of the men at last caught the 
signal, but Shields, not understanding it, con- 
tinued to approach. 

The Indian, meanwhile, held his ground. The 
act of friendship on the part of the captain, how- 
ever, had not produced the effect desired, due no 
doubt to the appearance of the other men. Lewis 
then produced from his knapsack a quantity of 


248 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


beads, a looking-glass, and some trinkets. With 
much show of ceremony he laid his gun down on 
the grass and advanced, holding the articles out at 
arm’s length before him. The Indian remained 
immovable until the captain had reached a point 
not two hundred yards away from him, and then, 
turning his horse, he slowly rode away, all the 
time looking back over his shoulder, as if uncertain 
what course to pursue. 

Tabba bone! Tabba bone! ” cried Lewis, 
meaning White man.” 

Tabba bone! Tabba bone!” he repeated, 
holding the presents before him, as if earnestly 
entreating the Indian to take them. Shields was 
still advancing, and by so doing was playing the 
mischief; but a little later, coming within sound 
of the captain’s voice, he stopped. At the same 
time the Indian, who was now at a distance of one 
hundred and fifty paces from Lewis, turned about. 

Tabba bone! Tabba bone! ” repeated Lewis, 
rolling up his sleeves and showing the color of his 
skin, which, bronzed by exposure, was scarcely 
lighter than an Indian’s. Then again he held up 
the trinkets. He advanced now with a rapid stride, 
but, no, the Indian would not have it so, and when 
the two were not over an hundred paces apart, he 



He advanced, holding the articles out at arm’s length. — Page 248. 




m-’-® - •- 

: •*■'**■, 'f 

1 ^ 






*» 

.... 

X ► • ^v ^ . 


1:: 'i 

*'t'- 

• • 

's'-'’ 

': ^Njr , 

• 

r 1 

M* \ 1 

•v- * * 


’ ^ i^' •■: 

* * 

1 . .a 


« • •► •• 

^ - ‘ 

f "^ . . »-■ - ■ 


■ fm 

« 



*t ^ 






CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT 


249 


bent over his horse, gave him a cut with the end 
of the halter, jumped it over a creek, and in a 
moment was hidden from view. 

The captain’s disappointment was grievous. 
He felt now that, having failed to make a friend of 
the stranger, the latter would doubtless spread the 
alarm and before nightfall would either be back 
with great numbers of others, prepared for war, 
or would be scores of miles away in the moun- 
tains. All hope of a successful alliance with the 
Shoshones and a successful passage of the moun- 
tains seemed to him at that moment lost. He could 
not but feel that his men were to blame for the 
situation. So, to make sure that no further failure 
should come about by their imprudence, he gave 
them a reprimand and advised them to be more 
careful in the future. Then, hoisting a flag on a 
pole, the four proceeded down the trail following 
the path of the fleeing Indian toward a line of hills 
that stretched away some three miles toward the 
west. Soon they reached a little eminence, where 
they halted for breakfast and set to work making 
up an assortment of beads, awls, paint, looking- 
glasses, and trinkets which, when completed, they 
placed on a little platform on top of a pole fastened 
in the earth. Then they built a huge fire out of dry 


250 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


grass and brush to attract the attention of any 
Indians who might he in the neighborhood. A 
wait of an hour producing no result, they took up 
the trail again, hopeful that by night the curiosity 
of the Indian and that of others whom he might 
inform of the adventure would lead him to return. 
By evening, however, they found their hopes cast 
to the ground and the trail obliterated by rain that 
had fallen during the afternoon; so with heavj 
hearts they looked for a place to pitch their camp 
for the night. 

The place chosen for their evening meal was by 
the side of a little rivulet which Captain Lewis 
declared he believed to be the source of the Mis- 
souri. At this McNeal planted one foot upon its 
north bank and the other upon its south, and ex- 
claimed, ^ ‘ Thank God, I have lived to bestride the 
Missouri.’’ Then all drank deep of its pure, cold 
water, ate sparingly of their scanty provisions 
and, despite the disappointments of the day, 
stretched themselves out, their feet to the fire, and 
fell asleep. 

The next morning they had not gone far before 
they struck an Indian road that led up and over 
the highest point of the range of mountains they 
had been climbing. Standing here and looking to 


CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT 


251 


the west they saw the peaks of the farthest range 
of the snow-clad Kockies and, later in the day, on 
the western slope, but a few miles beyond where 
they had drunk the water of the tiny spring which 
they guessed was the highest source of the great 
Missouri, they camped for the night beside another 
spring whose waters, cold and clear, flowed to the 
west. They were then at the source of the great 
Columbia, whose waters flowed a thousand miles 
into the Western sea. That night they went almost 
supperless to bed. 

Game had disappeared. Buffaloes they had not 
seen since they left the falls of the Missouri. Deer 
and antelope had gone and the rocky ridges seemed 
devoid of all life. They had husbanded carefully 
their little store of parched meal, and this, with a 
few berries, was all with which to celebrate the 
crossing of the Great Divide. They did not dare 
to fire a salute in honor of the occasion, for the 
Shoshones might be lurking among the rocks. 

The next morning the little party moved on, 
still following the plainly marked Indian road. An 
hour after starting, on turning a sharp point of 
rocks into a ravine, they came in sight of two 
women, a man, and some dogs. The women at 
once scampered away, while the man for a few 


252 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


moments held his ground, and the dogs frisked 
and barked about their heels. 

Captain Lewis at once ordered his men to halt, 
and with a flag unfurled and his knapsack and rifle 
thrown aside, himself advanced toward the Indian. 
But when the . captain had come to within about 
one hundred yards of him, notwithstanding he 
kept repeating Tabba bone’’ and showing his 
trinkets, the redskin took to his heels. The cap- 
tain now bethought himself of a way to make use 
of the dogs. He would catch them and tie hand- 
kerchiefs and trinkets to their necks. This would 
be a sign to their masters that he meant to be 
friendly ; but the dogs would not have it so ; they 
refused to act as go-betweens. 

A mile farther on, turning into a little ravine, 
the party came suddenly into the presence of three 
females — an elderly woman, a young woman, and 
a little girl. The young woman at once ran away, 
while the other two sat down upon the ground, 
cross-legged, and lowered their heads. Captain 
Lewis understood the meaning of their posture, for 
among all Indians, as well as among the natives of 
Egypt and many Asiatic countries, this is a sign 
of expectation of death. Here again Captain 
Lewis put down his rifle. Then, stepping forward. 


CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT 


253 


he took the old woman by the hand and raised her 
up, at the same time stripping up his shirt sleeve 
and saying to her, Tabba bone/^ 

At the captain’s order Drouillard made signs 
to her that she should recall the younger woman, 
but first he selected from his pack a liberal supply 
of beads, awls, pewter mirrors, and paint, for he 
realized well that if he could gain the friendly co- 
operation of this woman he could be reasonably 
sure of meeting her people. 

The old woman’s poverty was evident. Her 
matted and tangled hair fell loosely over her face 
and down her shoulders. Her skin was a dirty 
brown, and every feature indicated hunger and 
want. Her hungry eyes sparkled at the sight of 
so much riches. The few trinkets placed in her 
hands and the string of beads given to the little 
girl were wealth undreamed of. On Drouillard 
signifying to the old woman that they wished the 
young woman to return, she sped away over the 
hill, and in a few moments was back with her com- 
panion, both out of breath with their running. 
Then Captain Lewis gave trinkets to the younger 
woman and, taking some vermilion paint, with his 
own fingers smeared it upon the cheeks of the 
three, a ceremony which Sacajawea had told him 


254 THE BOY PATHFINDER 

was held among the Shoshones as a pledge of 
friendship. 

^ ‘ Tell them we wish to he taken to their camp, ’ ’ 
said Lewis to Drouillard, and, on the latter com- 
plying, the old woman indicated her willingness, 
and at once set off at a rapid pace down the trail. 

The party had gone about two miles when a 
cloud of dust was seen in the distance, and later 
the clatter of horses’ hoofs was heard upon the 
beaten trail. Lewis stopped. Did it mean an at- 
tack? Then there sprang to view a company of 
sixty warriors on fine horses, riding at full speed 
and taking a course directly toward them. 

Every rider bent far over the neck of his horse 
and held his bow and arrow ready for instant use. 
The sight was not a pleasant one to the little party 
of white men, for what could they do, even though 
armed with the best of rifles and a supply of ammu- 
nition, against so large a company of savages 
mounted on swift horses, armed with bows and 
arrows, in the use of which they were expert, and 
protected by shields of antelope hide ? 

On seeing the white men accompanied by the 
Indian women the warriors checked their horses. 
The white men laid their guns upon the ground. 
Captain Lewis, holding a flag above him, advanced 


CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT 


255 


some fifty paces and, stopping, indicated by word 
and gesture his friendly intentions. The chief of 
the red men, with two of the warriors who rode 
with him at the front, spoke to the women apart, 
then leaping from their horses, advanced to the 
captain and embraced him by throwing their left 
arms over his right shoulder and pressing their 
left cheeks to his right. 

^ ^ Ah hi e ! Ah hi e ! ^ ^ exclaimed the chief. 

To Captain Lewis the words were meaningless, 
but the manner of the Indians made him sure it 
meant welcome. No sooner had the chief and his 
two companions gone through with this ceremony 
of welcome than every one of the warriors who 
followed jumped from his horse and followed suit, 
much to the captain ^s disgust, for the cheeks 
rubbed against his own were thick with paint and 
grease, and much of it in the proceeding was 
transferred to his own. 

No one of the white men could hold a conversa- 
tion with the Indians for, though Drouillard had 
spent the greater part of his life among the In- 
dians of the lower Missouri, the language of the 
Shoshones bore little resemblance to anything he 
had ever heard. 

Knowing that the custom of smoking the pipe of 


256 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


peace was universal among the Indians east of the 
mountains, Captain Lewis lighted his pipe and 
offered it to the chief. But before the latter would 
accept it he saw that all the Indians present had 
seated themselves in a circle upon the ground and 
had pulled off their moccasins as a token that they 
would go barefoot forever if their friendship was 
not sincere. Then followed the smoking of the 
pipe and the giving of a few presents which the 
captain’s knapsack, now pretty well depleted, still 
contained. 

It soon appeared that the chief, Cameahwait by 
name, had a special liking for blue beads and ver- 
milion paint. So the old fellow’s friendship was 
quickly cemented. 

Through the sign language, in which Drouillard 
was an expert, the captain conveyed to the chief 
an outline of his purpose and plans, and these the 
chief in his turn delivered in a short speech to his 
warriors. 

Through Sacajawea Captain Lewis had learned 
that the chiefs of the Shoshones did not rule by 
right of birth, or even by right of election; that 
only such among the tribe as won distinction by 
some conspicuous act of bravery became thereby 
a leader — such an act, for instance, as killing a 


CHIEF CAME AH WAIT 


257 


grizzly unaided, or the taking of the scalp of an 
enemy. Chief Cameahwait had been a great war- 
rior and hunter, and this alone gave him prece- 
dence in the tribe. But even he had no authority 
to command obedience. He could only advise with 
the expectation that his advice would be heeded 
before that of any other. So that it was necessary 
on this occasion that not only should Cameahwait 
become convinced of the peaceable intentions of 
the white men, but that the warriors themselves 
should be satisfied. 

The Shoshones were poor, for they lived the 
greater part of the year in a country where game 
was scarce. Only at certain seasons did they dare 
venture down the eastern slopes of the Eockies to 
hunt for the buffalo, and when they did it was with 
an eye ever watchful lest the Blackfeet or the 
Minnetarees should attack them, as had happened 
on the occasion when Sacajawea, five years before, 
had been carried away captive. Their summer 
home at the sources of the Columbia was the only 
place where they felt secure, as no tribe cared to 
visit a country where buffaloes were seldom seen 
and where only the scrawniest antelope browsed 
among the barren rocks. Here, living upon the 
dry buffalo meat they had saved from a season’s 


258 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


hunt, or the few salmon caught in the streams, 
and a sort of bread made from dried berries 
mixed with sunflower seed and butfalo grease, 
they starved. 

Hunger and poverty displayed itself in their 
clothing and their features. Captain Lewis 
therefore guessed that the easiest way to win 
their hearts was to promise that clothing and pro- 
visions were coming by boats. But the warriors 
were suspicious. They believed that Lewis and 
his men had come to lead them into some ambus- 
cade and betray them to their enemies. Chief 
Cameahwait, with all the eloquence he could com- 
mand, urged upon his people that they show hos- 
pitality and receive the white men as friends. Half 
reluctantly they seemed to accede to their chief’s 
wishes. 

Then Captain Lewis gave to Cameahwait an 
American flag and indicated to him that he wished 
to go to their camp. Again speaking to his war- 
riors, Cameahwait signifled assent, and they 
started, the chief in advance, followed by Lewis 
and his men, and last of all, the warriors riding 
single flle, alert and fearful. After going a mile 
the chief halted and said something to some of 
the Indians, whereupon six or eight of them stuck 


CHIEF OAMEAHWAlf 259 

their heels into their horses’ flanks and sped away 
down the trail ahead. 

Three miles more and they reached the village, 
where they found the young men who had gone 
before had set up an old leather tent for a council 
house. Going directly to this, the entire party 
seated themselves on green boughs and antelope 
skins spread upon the earth. Some of the war- 
riors pulled up the grass in the middle of the lodge, 
laying bare a circle of earth two feet in diameter, 
in which they kindled a fire. The inevitable pipe 
and a sort of tobacco were then produced, the 
white men and the Indians again pulled otf their 
moccasins, and the solemn ceremonial so universal 
among the Indians for pledging friendship and 
good will was again enacted. 

The old chief lighted his pipe at the fire within 
the circle, and made a speech which none of the 
white men understood ; then, pointing the stem of 
the pipe to the four points of the compass, offered 
it to Lewis. The captain reached out his hand to 
take it, when the chief withdrew it and again 
pointed it to the north, south, east, and west. 
Again he offered it to Lewis, and again withdrew 
it. A third time he repeated the ceremony, after 
which he pointed the stem towards the heavens 


260 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


and afterwards to the fire, took three whiffs and 
handed it to the captain, this time evidently in- 
tending that he shonld take it. Lewis, having 
puffed a few times, the chief took it and handed it 
to each of the other white men in turn, and then 
to each of the warriors. 

Again Captain Lewis explained through Drouil- 
lard as best he could the purpose of his visit, indi- 
cating that he wished to go toward the setting sun 
to where the white man lived beside the sea ; that 
he wished to get horses to enable him to carry the 
baggage and provisions that were coming by boats 
overland from the headwaters of the Missouri to 
the headwaters of the Columbia. 

Chief Cameahwait replied that his people were 
poor, but that they would do what they could, in- 
dicating that they had many horses. This Captain 
Lewis could easily see, for hitched to stakes near 
each lodge in the village were from one to three 
horses and mules, the finest he had seen in all his 
experience with the Indians. 

Most of all, Cameahwait tried to impress upon 
his visitors that the Indians were hungry, and that 
if they did not get food soon they would die of 
starvation. Captain Lewis promised that he would 
stay with them and send his men out with their 


CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT 


261 


guns to hunt for antelope and buffalo, and that 
they should soon have enough to eat. In the mean- 
time he offered to divide with the chief the little 
that remained of his parched grain, an offer that 
Cameahwait accepted without hesitation and with 
every protestation of gratitude. That night the 
Indians held a dance which lasted until near 
morning. 

It was Captain Lewis’s intention to remain with 
the Indians until he could get all the information 
possible regarding the streams that flowed to the 
west and until the boats should come as far up the 
Missouri as possible. 

The information he received regarding the river 
was very disheartening. The Indians all told him 
that there was no timber for many miles out of 
which to build canoes, and that even if canoes 
could be built the stream was impassable for many 
hundred miles. In addition to this they reported 
that it would be impossible to transport baggage 
and provisions by land, as the only route to the 
west was over well-nigh impassable inountains and 
amid dangers from men and beasts that would 
effectually prevent their passage. Captain Lewis 
believed that, while in the main these reports might 
be true, Cameahwait wanted to keep the white men 


262 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


with him, hoping that their reports as to their 
having provisions on the way might prove true 
and that his people might profit by having these 
men as permanent members of their community. 

Early the next morning Drouillard and Shields 
borrowed horses of the Indians and went out to 
hunt with a number of the young warriors. They 
had not been gone long ere they ran across some 
deer, and the Indians at once gave pursuit, fright- 
ening the animals so that they were soon out of 
range of the white men’s guns and were hidden in 
the brush, where the bows and arrows of the young 
hunters could not reach them. A little later a small 
herd of antelopes was found browsing otf the 
short grass of a little plain. At once the Indians, 
each astride a horse, separated into eight or ten 
squads and circled around the herd. Then a small 
party rode swiftly toward the antelopes, who 
immediately took to their heels and ran until they 
found their course interrupted by the appearance 
of Indians in their front, when they turned and ran 
in some other direction, only again to meet with 
armed horsemen. Thus, driven from side to side, 
everywhere harassed by their enemies, they re- 
ceived a perfect rain of arrows from every quarter. 
To the astonishment of the white men, who had 


CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT 


263 


scarcely been able to get a shot because of the 
swift and confused movement of the animals and 
the danger of shooting some of the Indian hunters, 
the antelopes all escaped with the exception of one 
which fell with as many as twenty arrows in his 
body. Forty or fifty Indians had hunted for half 
a day with this meager result. The white men 
returned with nothing. 

The next day Captain Lewis asked that his men 
might be permitted to go out for a hunt alone, but 
Chief Cameahwait was suspicious. He feared that 
it was only a ruse and that, instead of the men 
wishing to hunt, they would return to the Minne- 
tarees and tell them of the whereabouts of the 
Shoshones. It had been suggested by several of 
the Indians at the conference the day before that 
the captain and his men were in league with the 
Minnetarees, and so fearful were these people of 
their long-time enemies that every little circum- 
stance that was unusual gave rise to suspicion and 
fear. 


CHAPTER XVI 


SACAJAWEA FINDS HER PEOPLE 

At last Captain Lewis had obtained all the in- 
formation he could hope to get, so he persuaded 
Cameahwait to ask the Indians to accompany him 
to the forks of the Jefferson with some thirty 
horses, in order to bring the baggage from the 
canoes to the Indian village, where he promised 
to remain for some time and liberally reward all 
who should help in the undertaking. 

Help us,’^ said Captain Lewis, and we will 
plan together how the people of your Great Father 
at Washington may come to visit you and bring 
you clothing and food, and trade with you, and 
may give you guns with which to fight your 
enemies, the Minnetarees.^’ 

I will speak to my warriors, said Cameah- 
wait, after a moment’s reflection. 

In an hour and a half the chief returned to the 
captain, who awaited the answer with great 
anxiety, for he felt that upon the decision of the 
Indians now depended the fate of the expedition. 

264 


8 AC AJ AWE A FINDS HER PEOPLE 


265 


When the sun rises we will go with you,’^ said 
Cameahwait. '' My people are afraid. I have 
made two speeches to them. They think you have 
come from our enemies. They say there are no 
white men on the Missouri. They are afraid you 
will lead them back where the Minnetarees will 
kill them.’’ 

Lewis looked serious, as he replied: 

Your people do not understand. The white 
man thinks it a disgrace to lie. If you think we 
deceive you, no white men will ever come to trade 
with you. You will never have guns with which 
to fight your enemies. The Minnetarees get guns 
from the white men. The Spaniards who come 
from the south, you say, will not sell you guns, 
for fear you will not know how to use them. 
You must be friends with us if you want guns. 
But what if there is danger! Are the Shoshones 
cowards ! Are they afraid to die ! But I tell you 
there is no danger. We are your friends. We 
have clothing and food and other things with which 
to reward you if you will help us. We are going 
on to the great lake that the Indians far down the 
Columbia have told you about. We shall speak 
to the white men there and shall tell them of your 
kindness. Next spring we shall come back up the 


266 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Columbia and we will visit you again. We will 
go to our great Father and tell him that of all the 
Indians, the Shoshones are the bravest.’^ 

Cameahwait is no coward,^’ said the chief, 
springing to his horse. Follow me,^’ he cried, 
turning to the warriors who stood about listening 
intently. Cameahwait is not afraid to die.’’ 

Upon this six or eight of the young warriors 
mounted their horses, and joined their chief. The 
remainder looked sullen, while the women and the 
children set up a wailing cry, in which they called 
upon the Great Spirit to protect their warriors, 
who were going out to die. 

Lighting his pipe. Captain Lewis took a few 
whitfs, and passed it to the Indians who had 
joined him, and thus their compact was complete. 
But six or eight Indians, with as many horses, 
were not enough. Yet,” thought Captain 
Lewis, “ if I can prevail upon these to make the 
trip, they will learn that I have told them the 
truth, and they will return and tell the others, and 
we can get the assistance of all.” 

The white men on foot, and the few Indians 
astride their horses, filed out of the camp amid the 
cries of the entire village. They had not gone far, 
however, when a party of ten or twelve others came 


8 AC AJ AWE A FIND 8 HER PEOPLE 267 

galloping their steeds up the road and, cheerful 
and happy, joined the company. A little farther 
on all the remaining men of the camp, together 
with a number of women on foot, came up with 
them as they were stopping to rest. That night 
the entire party went supperless to bed. 

Without breakfast the next morning the journey 
was resumed. Captain Clark sent two of his men 
ahead to hunt, at the same time asking that the 
Indians should not go, saying that when they ac- 
companied his hunters, they invariably alarmed 
the game. This suggestion on the part of the 
captain was unfortunate, for it again aroused the 
suspicions of the red men. It could mean nothing 
else, thought the Indians, than that the two hunt- 
ers were desirous of notifying their enemies of 
their approach. Chief Cameahwait, led mostly by 
hunger, finally granted the permission asked, but 
Captain Lewis noticed that the hunters had not 
been gone more than a few minutes, before two 
small parties of Indians sneaked away by different 
routes with the evident purpose of following the 
hunters to see on what errand they were bound. 
At the same time a number of Indians turned their 
horses about, and returned to their village, leaving 
twenty-eight warriors in all to continue the march. 


268 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


After several hours, one of the spies who had 
followed the hunters, was seen coming toward 
them with all speed, lashing his horse at every 
jump. At once Chief Cameahwait and the whole 
band reined up their horses. Every Indian looked 
the fear he felt. At the same time Captain Lewises 
heart sank within him. What had happened? An 
imprudent act on the part of one of the hunters 
might easily have spoiled his plans and sent the 
whole band flying back toward the camp. Lewis 
could make no explanation, and dared not try. All 
out of breath, the flying Indian, as soon as he could 
be heard, announced that one of the hunters had 
killed a deer. At once, with a shout, the entire 
company lashed their horses, and shot ahead with 
the speed of so many arrows. Captain Lewis and 
an Indian on ahead of him were riding double. 
This method of riding was a novel experience to. 
the white man. The Indian, to whom he clung for 
safety, was beating his horse fearfully, so that at 
the pace the animal was going, Lewis’s breath 
was being jolted out of him. 

^ ‘ Stop, you brute ! ” he yelled, at the same time 
reaching forward and grabbing the halter. 

But the Indian had no intention of getting left 
in the race, so checking his horse a little, he jumped 


8 AC AJ AWE A FIND 8 HER PEOPLE 


269 


from his back while still on the run, and with a 
speed almost as great as that of his steed, ran 
ahead with the crazy desire to get his part of the 
feast that awaited. 

When the foremost of the Indians had reached 
the spot where the deer lay, Drouillard had al- 
ready begun to cut up the animal, and had thrown 
the intestines aside. Tumbling over one another, 
the savages grabbed for the nasty mess, and de- 
voured it with every sign of satisfaction and de- 
light. But they did not touch the body of the deer 
until at the captain ^s order a quarter was cut off 
for himself and his white comrades, and the rest 
turned over to the chief to be divided among his 
warriors. Immediately the savages devoured their 
portions without cooking, and Cameahwait, by 
signs, declared that it was the best meal he had had 
in many suns. A little farther on Drouillard 
killed a second deer, and the same performance 
was again enacted, the Indians eating every part 
of the animal, even to the soft part of the hoof. 

After enjoying a breakfast of juicy steak, cooked 
over a fire by McNeal, during the eating of which 
Drouillard brought in a third deer, the party again 
took up the march. 

Soon they approached the place where Captain 


270 TEE BOY PATHFINDER 

Lewis had told the Indians they should find the 
boats. Here Cameahwait called a halt with great 
ceremony, put tippets or necklaces around the 
necks of the white men, whether for ornament or 
for disguise. Captain Lewis did not know, and in 
return for the presumed compliment, Lewis took 
off his cocked hat, in which was a feather, and put 
it on the head of the chief, his men following his ex- 
ample. When this had been done, the white men, 
bronzed to an Indian redness, their uncut hair fall- 
ing upon their shoulders, and their clothing like to 
that worn by the Indians, could scarcely be distin- 
guished from the savages themselves. Then the 
white men and Indians, with Chief Cameahwait, 
and a warrior carrying a flag, marched in solemn 
procession in the direction of the forks where, if 
Captain Lewis’s calculations were not wrong. 
Captain Clark must ere this time have arrived. 

To the dismay of the gallant leader, when from 
the top of an eminence near the river the forks 
came in view, no canoes were in sight. At once 
disappointment gave place to fear, for now the 
Indians, who had been led to expect that the white 
man’s boats would be found here, would think he 
had deceived them. His surmises were correct. 
At once a parley took place among the Indians. 


SACAJAWEA FINDS HER PEOPLE 


271 


Their suspicions had again been aroused, and 
those who had said, and there were many such, 
that there were no boats, proudly claimed the right 
to say what should now he done. Their determi- 
nation was to return at once, for now it was 
certain that they were being led into the country of 
their enemies. Captain Lewis saw that he must 
act at once. Remembering that he had written a 
note to Clark, and had stuck it up on a tree near 
the forks as they passed, he directed Drouillard 
to go and get it. 

‘ ^ Take an Indian with you, and let him see you 
take it from the tree. Bring it to me as soon as 
possible.’^ 

Then, as Drouillard and the Indian moved off, 
Lewis stepped up to Cameahwait and handed to 
him his gun. 

Now,^^ said he, if you are attacked by your 
enemies, you can defend yourself. If you find that 
I have betrayed you, shoot me. See, I have no 
other weapon than my knife, and this, also, I give 
to you.” 

Then McNeal and Shields, on a signal from the 
captain, did the same with their weapons. Thus 
the three stood defenseless before the suspicious 
redskins. Cameahwait was silent. The warriors 


272 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


were divided. Lewis begged that before a de- 
cision was made, they should await the return of 
Drouillard, who, he said, had gone to see if any 
trace could be found of the missing boats. An 
Indian had gone with him to see that Drouillard 
committed no act of treachery, and into the keep- 
ing of this Indian, Drouillard had given his gun 
and his knife. 

Soon the Frenchman returned, bearing the note 
that Lewis had left upon the river bank for Clark. 

‘ ‘ A letter from our friends ! ’ ’ shouted Lewis, 
with every evidence of joy, at the same time taking 
it from Drouillard and pretending to read. 

The men with the boats have been unable to 
come up. They have sent a man ahead with a 
letter for me. They will be here soon.’^ 

The Indian who had accompanied Drouillard re- 
ported that the white man had found the paper 
fastened to a tree on the river bank. 

This, in a measure, allayed the suspicions of the 
Indians until night, when Lewis and his compan- 
ions lay down about the campfire. Cameahwait 
and five of his warriors lay in a circle about them, 
while all the others hid in the bushes near by, 
ready for instant action. Captain Lewis did not 
sleep ; he was withoul: weapons of defense, in the 


SACAJA^YEA FINDS HER PEOPLE 273 

midst of savages who might at any moment take it 
into their heads to kill him. He reminded the In- 
dians, when seated before the camp fire that night, 
of the fight five years before on the banks of the 
Missouri, when four of their warriors had fallen, 
pierced by the bullets of the Minnetarees. He told 
them of Sacajawea, one of their own women, who, 
he said, had been captured by the Minnetarees in 
that fight and carried down the Missouri. He told 
them that she was among the party, and that in 
another day they should see her. He told them, 
too, of York, the negro, a man all black as night, 
with short, kinky hair, and prodigious strength. 
Not so much interested were they in the young 
Indian woman as they were in what Lewis told 
them of the black man. Curiosity is always a 
more conspicuous element in the Indian nature 
than sentiment. Their curiosity to see the negro, 
even more than the prospect of food and presents, 
probably secured for Lewis and his men that night 
a safe bivouac. 

At daybreak the next morning Captain Lewis, 
by giving one of the Indians a knife, induced him to 
accompany Drouillard on a trip down the river to 
learn the whereabouts of the canoes. At the same 
time Shields went out to hunt, while McNeal pre- 


274 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


pared breakfast. During the morning Lewis ex- 
ercised all bis ingenuity in keeping the Indians in- 
terested in something that would take their minds 
from the object of their fears. Tearing a leaf 
from his notebook he fastened it to the trunk of a 
tree, and then permitted the Indians to shoot at it 
with his rifle, offering a handful of beads to the 
warrior who came nearest to the mark. The 
clumsy efforts of the red men at handling the cap- 
tain ’s fine rifle produced great amusement, and 
soon the whole camp, excepting Lewis, ceased to 
be anxious. 

Captain Clark, with the boats, could not be far 
away, argued Lewis to himself, and Drouillard 
must return before night. If he should fail to do 
so, there could be little hope of restraining the In- 
dians from returning home, breaking up their 
camp, and fleeing into the depths of the mountains. 
While the captain was brooding over this gloomy 
prospect, one of the Indians, who had straggled 
down the river to spy on the movements of Drouil- 
lard, came lashing his horse until the foam flew 
from his mouth and sides. Waving his bow and 
shield in the air, he cried, White men! Canoes 
are coming ! ’ ’ 

Lewis could not understand the meaning of the 


8 AC AJ AWE A FINDS HER PEOPLE 275 

Indian words, but his manner could mean noth- 
ing but a joyous surprise. He was now sure the 
boats were near at hand. If the Indian mes- 
senger’s manner was not enough to reassure him, 
what followed was, for Chief Cameahwait, his face 
relaxed into a broad smile, immediately ap- 
proached the captain, and taking him in his arms, 
embraced him, at the same time plentifully be- 
smearing the captain’s face with vermilion from 
his own. 

During the night just passed the canoes had been 
only four miles away as a bird flies, but eleven by 
the windings of the stream. At starting that morn- 
ing, Captain Clark, Chaboneau, and Sacajawea 
accompanied the boats on foot. Clark followed 
the other two at some distance, stopping from time 
to time to examine rocks and plants, and look for 
signs of Lewis’s party. Suddenly the Bird Woman 
was seen to dance and gesticulate excitedly. 
Clark, hurrying up to learn the meaning of it, saw 
Sacajawea put her fingers into her mouth and suck 
them, then point up the river. The meaning of 
this was easily understood, for coming along the 
shore of the river toward them, Clark saw, as he 
thought, two Indians of an unknown tribe. The 
Bird Woman had recognized her countrymen, and 


276 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


she was sucking her fingers to indicate that she 
was in the home of her childhood. The two men 
advanced rapidly toward Clark and his com- 
panions, and in a moment the captain recognized 
as one of them, Drouillard. His dress and color 
were scarcely distinguishable from that of his 
Indian companion. 

Where is Captain Lewis? asked Clark, as 
soon as they had greeted each other. 

‘ ^ He is at the forks above, waiting for you, with 
more than a score of Indians and horses. He is in 
great distress lest you do not come up in time to 
make the Indians believe we are not leading them 
into an ambush.’’ 

‘‘ Then we must hurry,” said Clark. You, 
Drouillard, go and tell the news to the men in the 
canoes, for they need encouragement. Tell them 
to come with all speed, and that I have gone on 
ahead across the country to Captain Lewis’s 
camp. ’ ’ 

Then with Chaboneau, Sacajawea, and the In- 
dian, he hurried on to join Captain Lewis. 

Lewis and the Indians, on getting the news 
brought by the Indian messenger, at once set out 
down the river to meet the boats, so that soon the 
captains were together. 


8 AG AJ AWE A FINDS HER PEOPLE 


277 


At once, on seeing her people, Sacajawea ran 
ahead of the others. The first to greet the Bird 
Woman was a squaw of about her own age, who, 
rushing out of the crowd of Indians, embraced her 
with every indication of joy and atfection. She, 
too, had been in the fight with the Minnetarees, and 
she remembered Sacajawea. The two had been 
taken prisoners at the same time, and had been car- 
ried together far down the river. Sacajawea ’s 
companion had escaped, and after days and nights 
of wandering, during which she nearly starved, 
had reached her people. 

At once Sacajawea was the center of a group of 
curious women, all anxious for the story she had 
to tell of her five years’ absence. In the mean- 
time, Chief Cameahwait spread a white robe upon 
the grass, and, tying into Captain Clark’s hair six 
small shells, bade him be seated. Then came the 
inevitable pipe, smoked in turn by all present, fol- 
lowed by the speeches. Drouillard had gone in 
search of the boats. Chahoneau did not under- 
stand the tongue of the Shoshones, nor was he 
an adept at the sign language. But Sacajawea 
was there, and Sacajawea could talk the lan- 
guage of her people, so she was called in to in- 
terpret. 


278 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Bring Sacajawea here/^ said Clark to one of 
his men. 

In a few moments the young Indian woman, 
proud and happy, followed by a train of other 
women, several of whom were fondling Sacaja- 
wea 's baby, came into the conference. 

Sacajawea, tell Chief Cameahwait what I say, 
and then tell me his answer. ^ ^ 

Sacajawea had taken her seat on the ground 
near Captain Clark. At the mention of the chief’s 
name, she looked up quickly, then springing from 
the ground and crying, ^ ‘ My brother, ’ ’ she threw 
herself upon the chief, the tears raining down her 
cheeks. 

The chief, as if embarrassed by the suddenness 
of the greeting, stood stolid and unmoved. After 
the first outburst of her joy had spent itself, the 
Indian woman returned to Captain Clark’s side, 
and there, amid tears which still continued to 
trickle down her painted cheeks, she repeated to 
the Indians the words of the white man, and to the 
white man the words of the Indians. 

As soon as the conference was over, Sacajawea 
sought out her brother, whose elevation to the 
chieftainship made of her a princess. 

Tell me of my family,” she said. Where 


SACAJAWEA FINDS HER PEOPLE 


279 


are my sisters and my other brothers, my father 
and mother? ’’ 

All are dead/’ replied Cameahwait, except 
one of our brothers, who is many days’ journey 
up in the mountains, and a little boy, the son of 
one of our sisters. ’ ’ 

^ ‘ Where is he ? Bring him to me, ’ ’ she said. 

Willing feet among the Indian boys ran for the 
little Indian, the nephew of Chief Cameahwait. 

He shall be mine now,” cried Sacajawea, tak- 
ing him in her arms. 

So the Bird Woman adopted the boy into her 
family, and when, some days later, the expedition 
moved on, and Sacajawea with them, she made 
provisions for his comfort by liberal donations 
from her stock of trinkets, with which the white 
men of the expedition kept her well supplied. 

In the evening the canoes came in sight, and the 
Indians were wild with joy at the sight of the 
wealth the white men displayed. Particularly 
were they interested in the swivel gun, which Cap- 
tain Lewis ordered should be fired in their honor. 
That same day another conference was held, under 
a canopy formed of the sails. Then the captains 
told the Indians again of the purpose of their mis- 
sion, and their desire to obtain horses to transport 


280 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


their stuff to a point where canoes could float on 
the waters running into the Columbia. 

Chief Cameahwait thanked the captains for their 
good talk, and expressed his joy that the white 
men had come among them with a peaceful pur- 
pose, and with promises of trade. He said that his 
warriors would furnish horses, and that their old 
men and guides would tell them all they knew about 
the way across the mountains. Then the captain 
gave Chief Cameahwait a medal hearing a likeness 
of Jefferson, a gold-braided coat, a shirt, scarlet 
leggings, a carat of tobacco, and many small 
articles, and at the same time distributed presents 
liberally among the others. 

After a meal, at which the Indians tasted Indian 
corn for the first time, Clark and eleven men, with 
Chaboneau, Sacajawea, Chief Cameahwait and his 
band, set out for the Indian village, leaving Cap- 
tain Lewis and the remainder of the white men to 
unload the canoes, and get ready pack-saddles for 
the horses when they should come. 

It was arranged that Chaboneau and Sacajawea 
should remain in the little village and assist in 
the collecting of the horses, while Clark and his 
eleven men should search for a stream running to 
the west, that might prove navigable, and then 


SACAJAWEA FINDS HER PEOPLE 


281 


build canoes. As Sergeant Gass was the carpenter 
of the company, he went with Clark, as did also 
Shannon, the youngest of the company. 

For six days, or until August 24th, Lewis and his 
men remained on the banks of the river, where they 
buried another portion of their baggage and pro- 
visions, and made pack-saddles out of the handles 
of the oars and parts of boxes, binding them to- 
gether with thongs of rawhide. The canoes, them- 
selves, were made fast in the bushes, and concealed 
as much as possible, with the hope that on the 
coming back of the expedition, in the spring, they 
might be found ready for use. 

At the end of the sixth day Cameahwait, with 
fifty of his warriors, and as many women and chil- 
dren, came back from the village. Lewis at once 
bought from them nine good horses and a mule, 
paying for each an amount in trinkets worth five 
or six dollars. In addition to these he hired two. 

Packing the provisions and baggage upon the 
backs of these animals, the white men, accom- 
panied by the entire party of Indians, set out for 
the village. They had not gone far when Sacaja- 
wea came to meet them. She had learned in the 
village that Cameahwait had sent a messenger 
ahead, telling the whole camp to meet the Indians 


282 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


who were coming with Captain Lewis, and go with 
them to the buffalo country to the east for a hunt, 
leaving the white chiefs to get along as best they 
might without their assistance. Captain Lewis 
thanked the Indian woman for her loyalty, and 
then called Cameahwait and two of the lesser 
chiefs into council. After smoking, he addressed 
Cameahwait ; 

I ask you. Chief Cameahwait, are the Sho- 
shones men of their word, or do they lie ? Do they 
say one thing and mean another? Can the white 
man believe Cameahwait I ’ ^ 

The wily chief replied: 

‘ ‘ What Cameahwait says he will do, he will do. ’ ’ 
Then,’^ said Captain Lewis, did you not 
agree to be friends with us? Did you not say you 
would help us to reach the western river ? Did you 
not agree to furnish horses, and guides, and tell 
us about the trails over the mountains ? ’ ^ 

The white chief speaks truly,’’ answered 
Cameahwait. 

< < Why, then, ’ ’ went on Lewis, ‘ ‘ do you send mes- 
sengers to the village, telling them all to join you 
in a buffalo hunt, and leave us alone ? If you wish 
us to be friends, and to trade with you ; if you want 
us to have the white men bring you guns, and 


SACAJAWEA FINDS HER PEOPLE 


283 


powder and ball; if you want to fight on equal 
terms with your enemies, you should not break 
your promises. You should not lie or deceive us. 
If you mean to do what you have promised, send 
one of your men to the village, and tell your people 
that you will not go on the butfalo hunt, but that 
they must remain at home to receive us. What 
say you? ’’ continued Lewis, addressing the two 
lesser chiefs, who had been called into the council. 

We did not want to go when Chief Cameah- 
wait said we should go away, ^ ’ they answered. 

Cameahwait was silent for a long time, then 
rising to his feet with a shamefaced expression, 
he said : 

* ‘ Cameahwait knows that he did wrong, but his 
people need food. They are starving. Cameah- 
wait will send to the village, and tell his people 
they must not hunt, but must wait and help the 
white man.’’ 

And so the treachery of Cameahwait was 
thwarted, and by his own sister, the Bird Woman, 
who here, as in hundreds of other instances, earned 
the gratitude of the captains and an honorable 
name in history. 

On arriving at the village. Colter came from 
Captain Clark, who had been gone several days in 


284 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


searcli of a way down the stream that took its rise 
nearby, to report that he had fonnd the river im- 
passable; that it consisted of almost continnons 
rapids with heavily timbered mountains on each 
side, pressing so close upon the water that not 
even a footpath could be found; and that every 
trail he had followed by land had led him into a 
wild and mountainous country, heavily timbered, 
almost devoid of game, and giving promise of end- 
less difficulties and dangers. 

Captain Clark, himself, returned to the Indian 
village on August 20th, where at once a conference 
was held with the Indians as how best to proceed. 
The Indians, almost to a man, declared that no one 
had ever been known to cross the mountains to the 
great river, and that no white man had ever come 
to them from beyond the mountains to the west. 
They only knew that the little stream nearby, which 
in the course of forty or fifty miles widened into a 
tumultuous river, itself flowed into another river ; 
they had heard that away to the west, in some re- 
mote region, that river again flowed into another, 
which finally came to the shores of a great lake on 
which white men dwelt. But there was one old 
Indian whose knowledge impressed the captains. 
He had drawn a map in the sand, indicating by 


8 AC AJ AWE A FINDS HER PEOPLE 


285 


lines drawn with a stick, the courses of the rivers, 
and by little ridges and heaps of earth, the loca- 
tion and direction of the mountain ranges. At 
once Captain Lewis engaged the old fellow for a 
guide, and gave to him the name of Tobey. 


CHAPTER XVII 

TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 

The days between August 31st and September 
26th are not many on the calendar, but to the path- 
finders of 1705, lost in the heart of the unexplored 
Rockies, they seemed so many months. August 
31st was the day they set out from the friendly 
camp of the Shoshones under the guidance of old 
Tobey and five other Indians, four of whom were 
Tobey’s sons, to find a way to reach the Columbia, 
and September 26th was the day they camped on 
the banks of a stream where first they could 
launch canoes. 

The intervening days were the worst the ex- 
plorers had encountered since they left the banks 
of the Mississippi. Treacherous and uncertain as 
had been the old Missouri, it had brought them 
three thousand miles to the very backbone of the 
great mountains; but now the streams they met 
mocked their efforts to navigate them, for, while 
their waters flowed to the west, and must at last 
286 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 287 

reach the ocean which the explorers longed to see, 
they hissed and boiled, and threw themselves over 
precipitous rocks, amid dark caverns, so that even 
the Indians shook their heads and said, No. No 
way by the rivers. No Indian can do it. So no 
white man.’’ 

But,” said the captains, “ we will go along 
their banks, and over the mountain trail.” 

But the Indians shook their heads. 

The white man cannot go over the moun- 
tains. There is no path. There is death in the 
forests.” 

Then they told the weird stories of their people ; 
how brave warriors had gone to find the path to 
the setting sun, and had never come back ; how the 
fires and the winds came out of the west, burning 
and destroying. 

Captain Clark more than half believed the 
worst the Indians told, for, had he not gone 
seventy miles into the unbroken forests beyond 
and come back, bruised and starving, to report 
the streams unnavigable to canoes, and the moun- 
tains impassable to pack horses, and, worst of all, 
no game for the hunters'? 

But old Tobey knew a way. It was far to the 
north. The other Indians shook their heads. 


288 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Tobey is old. Tobey is a fool.’^ But Captain 
Lewis believed in the old Indian, and by liberal 
gifts, and promises of rich rewards, he obtained 
his services as guide. Old Tobey bravely ac- 
cepted the dangerous commission. Then four of 
his sons and another Indian asked to go along. 
Captain Lewis said Yes,’^ but in a day or two 
they sneaked out of camp, leaving old Tobey alone 
to direct the way. 

Sacajawea could have remained with her peo- 
ple. She had earned a reward of a life of ease in 
her old home among the Shoshones, as well as a 
place of honor in the memories of the men of the 
expedition, and in the annals of Western history, 
but she, too, with her papoose strapped to her 
back, rode out of camp that last day of August 
to follow to the end the fortunes of the intrepid 
white men, and serve with old Tobey as guide and 
interpreter among the strange people on the 
banks of the westward-flowing rivers. 

On the fifth day’s journey to the north from 
the Shoshone village, the party emerged from a 
rocky ravine into a basin or ‘ ‘ hole ’ ’ in the moun- 
tains, through which flowed a river. All save the 
two captains were on foot, and each led two pack 
horses. The captains rode in advance, accom- 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 


289 


panied by Sacajawea and Tobey, and one of the 
latter’s sons, who had joined the expedition 
shortly after the desertion of the others. 

It is the country of the Ootlashoots,” said 
Tobey, and hardly had he spoken ere they heard 
the sound of a horse’s hoofs, and caught a glimpse 
of a flying horseman — an Indian, making for the 
river. 

Captain Lewis at once called a halt and, waiting 
for his men to come up, marshaled them into 
some kind of order, so as to be ready for attack 
should they fall into an ambuscade. 

The solitary horseman was Three Eagles, chief 
of the Ootlashoots, who had been out scouting in 
the neighborhood of his camp, for his people 
owned many valuable horses, and some had been 
stolen of late by their thieving neighbors. Three 
Eagles had seen the approach of the white men 
from under the cover of a clump of trees, and had 
watched them descending slowly and painfully 
into the valley. He had never seen beings like 
these, with white skins and no blankets. At first 
curious, he was now alarmed, as he saw the num- 
ber of the party. Jumping on his horse, he 
dashed away to camp, where he told his story. 

They come out of the mountains,” he said. 


290 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


They have no blankets. They have been in bat- 
tle, and their blankets have been taken from them. 
They are white from hunger and fear. But one 
is black. He has war paint on his face and arms. 
They have no bows and arrows, but they have 
many horses carrying big loads. The chiefs ride 
horses. One squaw with her papoose walks be- 
side them.’^ 

The report created great consternation. 

Bring in the horses!’’ commanded Three 
Eagles. At once the braves ran to collect their 
horses, — of which they had some five hundred, 
and put them in readiness for speedy flight. Then 
Three Eagles stole out of camp with a few com- 
panions, and made his way stealthily in the direc- 
tion from which the intruders were expected. 
Soon crouching amid the bushes, he saw the whole 
cavalcade approaching. The nearer the white 
men came, the more certain became the Ootla- 
shoots that the strangers were a defeated band or 
warriors of some strange nation, who had lost 
their blankets and their bows and arrows. Pity 
stole into the hearts of the Indians. Stepping out 
from his hiding place. Three Eagles approached 
the head of the little procession. The captains 
stopped, alighted from their horses, laid aside 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE 8EA 


291 


their guns and, accompanied by Tobey, came to 
meet him. The first effort at greeting was by 
words, but Tobey did not understand. Captain 
Lewis bethought himself of the pipe and, lighting 
his own, he handed it to Three Eagles. The chief 
understood, and they were at once friends. A 
little later the white men were in the camp of 
the Flatheads, for the Ootlashoots were of that 
tribe. 

Three Eagles was courteous and generous. He 
ordered some of his braves to bring their best 
robes, and spread them about the camp fire as 
seats for his guests. Other blankets he threw 
across their shoulders, for their faces were pale, 
and they must be cold. Captain Lewis thanked 
the chief, and told him they had robes of their 
own in the bundles strapped to the horses, and 
that they were not cold, but hungry. 

This revealed the fact that the Ootlashoots, too, 
were without provisions, and were then on the way 
to the buffalo country on the upper Missouri to 
hunt for game. Patrick Gass found out to his 
discomfiture that the Indians and white men were 
not the only creatures in this hole in the moun- 
tains that were hungry, when on awakening the 
first morning in the camp, he found the Indians’ 


292 


TEE BOY PATHFINDER 


dogs had eaten up his moccasins and those of sev- 
eral others of the party. 

The expedition hade farewell to Three Eagles 
and his people with some regret, as they had been 
hospitable and friendly, and had enabled them to 
get fresh horses, making the number now in the 
train some forty, with three colts. 

One week later — September 11th — the expedi- 
tion reached the banks of the Kooskooskee, with 
a few cans of portable soup, and twenty pounds of 
bear’s oil, their only provisions. Here a colt was 
killed and eaten by the starving men. A few days 
later a wolf fell victim to a well-aimed shot 
by Chaboneau and it, too, went into the kettle. 
The men were all losing flesh, and so weak had 
they become they scarcely dragged one foot 
after the other. On the banks of the Koos- 
kooskee they rested, and here Shannon went out 
to hunt. 

Of all of the white men of the expedition, the 
Ohio boy was the best able to mount a horse. The 
two captains were both sick. Sacajawea was 
busy devising and serving remedies made from 
leaves and roots, but still the sick men grew 
feebler. The change from the succulent buffalo 
steaks, the flsh of the cold mountain streams, the 


TO TEE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 293 


tender flesh of the deer and the antelope to the 
occasional meal of horse or wolf flesh, and the 
dry roots dug from the ground, was a sudden and 
violent one. The hardest constitutions broke 
under it, so that a terrible weakness seized all 
in the camp ; scarcely one of the men selected the 
year before for their muscles of iron, and their 
sinews of brass, now stood erect upon his feet, 
while many lay prostrated in the hastily con- 
structed camp on the banks of the Kooskooskee, 
burning with fever, or overcome with the stupor 
of weakness. 

Shannon was the youngest of the men and, as 
these days proved, the strongest of constitution, 
yet he trembled from head to foot, and his head 
swam as he slowly rose to his feet at waking, the 
first morning after camp was pitched on the Koos- 
kooskee. He arose that morning determined to 
go hunting and not return till he could bring a 
bird, a rabbit, or something to tempt the palates 
of the sick men. Hurrying to the river, he bathed 
his face and breast in the cold waters, ran his 
gaunt fingers through his tangled hair, and then 
sought out Captain Lewises couch. 

Good-morning, Captain Lewis,’’ he said, 
bending over the captain’s form, that lay on a 


294 TEE BOY PATHFINDER 

buffalo robe spread upon the ground. You are 
better this morning, I hope.’^ 

The captain turned his bronzed, haggard face 
to the young man. 

Yes, I’m better. Shannon. We’ll move on to- 
day. We must reach the ocean, and we must 
reach it soon. It cannot be that we have crossed 
the mountains to die on their western slopes with- 
out a sight of the Pacific. What would the ene- 
mies of the President not say! We must press 
on. Shannon. How are the men? ” 

Whitehouse is stronger this morning,” an- 
swered the young man, not daring to say that but 
one or two of the men besides himself were yet 
astir, though the sun was up. 

Is there anything for them to eat? ” inquired 
the sick man, seemingly forgetful of himself, and 
solicitous only for the poor fellows who had fol- 
lowed him into the wilderness. 

<< There is some of the broth left.” Shannon 
scarcely knew whether he told the truth. 

We must kill another of the horses,” mut- 
tered the captain, with an expression of pain on 
his countenance. The poor brutes are them- 
selves dying of hunger. Give it all to the men. 
I do not need it.” 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 295 

Shannon recognized the heroism of his leader, 
and bending over the wasted form, he took the 
captain’s hot hand in his. 

I came to get permission to hunt to-day, 
captain. You need something to strengthen 
you. ’ ’ 

No, not for me. I am all right, my lad. But 
what is the use? Our men have tramped these 
barren hills for days, and brought back nothing. 
There’s not a living thing in a hundred miles. 
You must not risk your life. Shannon. You are 
stronger than some of us. If we — die you must 
go on. Find the Columbia, and make your way 
to the Pacific. There you will find white men and 
ships, and they will carry you home. Let it not 
be said we failed. The President ’s plans, and his 
faith in us, must not prove futile. No, do not risk 
your life for mine.” 

But I am able to do it,” replied Shannon. 
^ ‘ I am strong, and can stand it. I will not go far. 
The men need, most of all, something to eat. The 
horseflesh they have eaten sickens them. They 
must have strength to cut timber for the canoes. 
They cannot do it as they are. Let me try, just 
this once, for the sake of the men.” 

Captain Lewis’s eyes closed for a moment. 


296 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Yes. Go, Shannon. For the men.’’ Then 
turning his face away, he seemed to drop into a 
sleep, and Shannon stole quietly out. 

The sun had been up an hour when Shannon 
left Captain Lewis with permission to hunt, and 
yet there were few signs of life about the camp. 
The cook, whose duties these days were few, had 
builded his fire and made a gruel from a small 
amount of soup and some edible roots left over 
from the day before, and with a dozen of the men 
sat upon the earth about the fire, eating of it with 
indifferent interest. The remainder of the men 
were too sick to crawl from their blankets, or 
their stomachs rebelled against the treatment they 
were receiving, and absolutely refused to be 
tempted. 

Shannon cast a glance at the pot, and noting its 
meager supply, turned away. Sacajawea called 
to him, and told him to come and get his share, but 
he shook his head, drew his arms up as if pointing 
a gun at a bird in the air, and went on toward the 
brown hills a few hundred yards away, where, 
among the sage brush, the starved horses were 
nibbling at the thin little bunches of grass. 

The morning was clear, and the air crisp and 
dry — just the morning for a hunt, and something 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 297 


seemed to tell the young hunter he would have 
good luck. The feeling gave him pleasure, for if 
he could but bring to Captain Lewis a bird or a 
rabbit, he could forget his own hunger and weak- 
ness. Now,^’ he thought to himself, the time 
has come when I can repay him for his kindness to 
me. He was a strong man that day in Pittsburg 
when I asked him to take me along, and he took 
me for a boy. Now I am strong — that is, stronger 
than he is, stretched there on his blanket sick, 
and I can help him and prove myself worthy of 
his friendship.^’ But even as he spoke his legs 
trembled, and involuntarily he stopped and 
pressed his hand before his eyes to recover from 
a sudden dizziness that came upon him. A mo- 
ment later he moved on slowly, wondering if it 
had not been wiser for him to have tasted of the 
gruel before starting out. 

It was a matter of no difficulty to secure a horse. 
The poor creatures had barely strength to stand, 
and none to play tricks on their masters. Select- 
ing a young horse that he had marked the day be- 
fore as having more life and action than its fel- 
lows, he secured it, and led it into camp. 

‘‘ You no hunt to-day,” said Drouillard the 
veteran. 


298 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Yes, I must, Drouillard, ’ ’ replied Shannon. 

The men must have something better to eat or 
there will he some sad stories to tell when we 
reach home. ’ ^ 

Home! exclaimed the old Missouri guide. 

We no see home again. 

The look of the man — this man who had seen 
danger in every form without quailing — ^haunted 
Shannon through the remainder of his life. 

You dare not say that to Captain Lewis,’’ 
said Shannon reproachfully. 

Captain Lewis, — ^he wonderful man,” said 
Drouillard, shaking his head mournfully. Then 
he added : ‘ ‘ W ’at you shoot ? No buffalo, no bear, 
no antelope, no deer, no rabbit, no bird, only the 
thistles and the rocks, and the pine trees. You 
die out there in the desert.” 

^‘You’ll see, Drouillard. I am not counting 
my chickens before they are hatched, but Captain 
Lewis must have something fit to eat before an- 
other day is done. Let me have your gun, Drouil- 
lard. Mine has been acting badly of late.” 

Yes, you take my gun,” replied the guide. 

If you go, you take the best gun we got. That’s 
my old Simon Kenton. ’ ’ Drouillard had named his 
shooting iron after the sturdy old ranger of 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE 8EA 299 

whom his father had told him in his younger 
days, whose life the elder Drouillard had once 
saved. 

As Drouillard went to fetch his gun, Shannon 
strapped a blanket on his horse’s back, passed a 
long leather thong about the horse ’s head, and be- 
tween its teeth, and stood ready to mount. 

You got the best horse and the best gun in 
camp. I wish you good luck,” said Drouillard a 
moment later, handing his long, slim weapon to 
the young man. 

Thank you, Drouillard. I’ll be back by night- 
fall, and you shall share in what I get. Well! 
You rascal! You don’t want to go! ” This to 
his horse, which the moment Shannon took the 
gun and made a movement to leap upon his back, 
reared and plunged as if in great fear. 

Drouillard took the gun, and advancing toward 
the animal brandished the weapon before his 
eyes, and then discharged it. The report nearly 
crazed the poor brute, to whom the sound of fire- 
arms was new, and, tugging at his bridle, he 
dragged Shannon, too weak to hold him, like a 
child. 

Better take a horse that’s broke to the gun,’^ 
suggested Drouillard. 


300 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


No,’’ said Shannon, once I’m on his back I 
can manage him. I want a horse of good mettle. ’ ’ 

A few minntes’ struggle, and the horse was 
brought into subjection. Shannon was on his back 
with his rifle, and the camp was lost to view. 

For some hours, or until the sun had passed the 
meridian, the hunter pushed on his way, describ- 
ing in his course a wide circuit that would bring 
him home by sunset. For the first few hours he 
carefully scanned the country about him for signs 
of game, but not a twitter of a bird disturbed the 
quiet of the yellow hills. But still he persevered, 
resting at intervals beside a chance rivulet or pool 
that came all too infrequent for comfort in the 
desert. The hours crept on, and the sun began to 
slant its rays. A terrifying weakness came over 
him that caused him to urge his horse to greater 
speed. There came, too, across the boy’s mind a 
picture of a lone rider, fallen from weakness, and 
dying among the sage brush. His weapon seemed 
to grow heavy, and frequently he shifted it from 
one hand to the other, now resting it upon one 
shoulder, now on the other, and then upon his 
horse’s neck. His legs and feet seemed weighted 
with iron, and his head drooped, despite his effort 
to hold himself erect. At last he was afraid to 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 301 

alight from his horse for fear he could not mount 
again. Then, most serious of all, he felt con- 
sciousness going, as if he were falling asleep. 
Strange visions came before his eyes. The land- 
scape seemed obscured by a haze, and objects ap- 
peared floating about in space — strange objects, 
men and beasts, and trees and mountains; then 
scenes of his childhood — his mother’s face and 
form, pitiful and longing, his brothers and sisters, 
the log cabin in the woods, and his father cutting 
the great trees with the glistening ax. A mighty 
oak trembled, tottered^ and fell, and he heard the 
shout of the children. Then the form of the 
schoolmaster and the boys of the Pittsburg 
school. He was again on the banks of the Alle- 
gheny, looking down upon the sources of the great 
Ohio, and he dreamt again the dream of conquest. 
Then came before his eyes Captain Lewis, and 
Captain Clark, and the old general as they stood 
on the shore at Louisville, so gay and courtly in 
the day of high hope. Then the winter at St. 
Louis, and the ceremony of the passing of the old 
flags. Then he reeled and caught himself as he 
was about to fall. 

Come,” he said feebly, coaxingly to his horse. 
‘‘We must not fall here. Not here, sir, not here. 


802 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Is this you, Shannon? You are a weakling, a 
fool, a coward. Come, these fancies will not do. 
These dreams frighten you. This is Shannon. 
This is Drouillard’s gun. No, it is not Drouil- 
lard’s gun. ^Tis too big, too heavy. Drouil- 
lard’s gun was long, and bright, and light as a 
feather.’’ 

He was about to throw it from him, when a 
flutter as of wings arose in a clump of bushes 
ahead of him. At once his mind swung back to 
its moorings, and the gun went to his shoulder 
while the horse’s bridle dropped from his hand. 
A sharp report rang out as a bird flew from its 
cover and went sailing aloft. But, alas ! the shot 
was the boy’s undoing. The horse reared, lost its 
balance and fell heavily backward, and Shannon, 
conscious but for a moment of falling, and of a 
heavy blow across the back of his neck and head, 
lay crushed beneath the fallen animal. 

Evening came and Captain Lewis, propped in a 
sitting posture at the base of a fir tree, asked for 
Shannon. 

He went hunting this morning and has not 
returned,” came the answer from one of the men 
who had witnessed the young man’s departure 
that morning from camp. He took a good 


TO TEE COLUMBIA AND TEE SEA 303 

horse and Drouillard^s gun, and said he would not 
return till night/ ^ he continued. 

Send Drouillard to me/’ ordered the captain. 

Soon the guide presented himself. 

“ Drouillard, did Shannon tell you where he 
would hunt? ” 

He no tell me, captain,” answered the 
Frenchman. 

You should not have let him go alone. No 
man of us is in condition to hunt all day. Which 
direction did he take ? ’ ’ 

He go back of the hills.” The guide indi- 
cated by his finger the direction as being back 
from the river. 

The captain’s face betrayed anxiety. He 
should have kept near the river. The hoy has a 
curious way of getting lost. It would go hard 
with him, were he to lose himself now. ’ ’ Then as 
if the need were urgent, the captain turned to 
Clark who had come up. ‘ ‘ Captain, we must send 
out for Shannon. He has been gone all day hunt- 
ing.” 

The foolish youngster! ” exclaimed Clark. 

Will he never learn to take care of himself? ” 

I feel the worse about it. Captain,” pursued 
Captain Lewis, ‘ ‘ because he went out for me. He 


304 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


insisted that I needed something palatable to eat, 
and he was sure he could get it. ’ ’ 

It does credit to his heart, if not to his judg- 
ment,’’ replied Clark. ‘‘ He is a brave and true 
soldier. With a regiment of such men I would 
not fear the phalanxes of Napoleon. As you say, 
we must see what has become of him. ’ ’ 

With this Captain Clark turned and approached 
a group of men who were heating stones and burn- 
ing out canoes from the trunks of trees. Drouil- 
lard had already made ready for the search, and, 
astride a horse, was awaiting orders. 

Take your horses and guns, and scatter back 
from the river. Fire your guns often. Don’t 
come back without something to report.” 

With these orders from Captain Clark all the 
men able to ride set out for the hills. Shannon 
was popular with the men because of his bravery 
and generosity, and they went willingly. 

‘ ‘ Shure ! ’ ’ exclaimed Patrick Gass. ‘ ‘ And 
we’ll find that b’hoy or niver come back.” 

Shannon’s trail was easily followed by Gass 
and Drouillard, who were assigned to follow the 
prints of the hoofs of Shannon’s horse, and by 
good judgment the two often made time by leav- 
ing the trail and taking short cuts to points where 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND TEE SEA 305 


they suspected the hunter would go. The sun 
was far below the horizon, and a full moon shone 
upon the two when, becoming perplexed by their 
non-success, they reached the banks of a little 
stream that flowed down among the hills toward 
the Kooskooskee, where they came upon a rider- 
less horse browsing on the slender tufts of grass 
that barely poked their heads above the hard 
earth. 

There’s the lad’s baste! ” cried Gass, run- 
ning forward, and at the same moment Drouil- 
lard, who was walking some hundred feet off to 
the side, came upon his gun. 

‘‘ And I haf the gun,” shouted Drouillard. 

Thin the other fellow can’t be far off,” an- 
swered the Irishman. 

There’s no load in the gun, Gass,” said the 
Frenchman, who had now joined his comrade. 

The two men discussed for a moment the mean- 
ing of their find, and of the empty gun, without 
reaching a conclusion. Then at Drouillard ’s sug- 
gestion they examined the ground near where the 
gun lay. 

a There’s been trouble here,” suggested the 
Irishman, calling attention to several clumps of 
sage brush that were broken down, and to evi- 


306 TEE BOY PATHFINDER 

dences of something that had dragged itself over 
the surface. 

This way,’’ whispered Drouillard, as on 
hands and knees he followed marks on the ground 
that showed something had moved along, scratch- 
ing the surface as it went. Nearly a hundred 
feet they had gone when, suddenly, they came 
upon the body of Shannon stretched upon the 
bank of a little stream, his head just touching 
the water, so that it rippled against his fore- 
head. 

Is he did? ” asked Gass in a hollow voice. 

Drouillard lifted Shannon’s head and took him 
in his arms, but made no answer, for the boy gave 
his own reply: 

‘‘ I — got — it — Captain — Lewis. It — is — there 

— there — ^by — the — bushes. ’ ’ 

What the divil is he talkin’ about? ” whis- 
pered the Irishman. 

Drouillard scooped up some water in his coon- 
skin cap, and held its brim to the boy’s parched 
lips. 

Thank — you — Captain. I’ll — do — as — much — 
for — you — some — day. Y ou — are — ^better — Cap- 
tain. We — ^will — now — go. I — see — the — ^Colum- 
bia. I — hear — the — waves — of — the — ocean. It 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 30 '? 

— is — beautiful. The — President — will — not — ^be 

— ashamed — of — Captain — Lewis. ’ ’ 

The two men listened, perplexed and anxious. 
It was night. They were miles away from camp. 

You go, Gass. Get help. I stay here,’’ said 
the Frenchman. The boy sick — ^very sick. Tell 
them come quick — ^he die.” 

The suggestion was as good as a command to 
Gass, who, though a sergeant, and in no position 
to take commands from Drouillard under ordinary 
circumstances, obeyed with alacrity. 

Mounting his horse, the kind-hearted Irishman 
was soon pushing back over the trail. Shannon 
lay on the ground, his head resting on a blanket, 
his mind delirious, and his talk all of Lewis and 
the great commission. Drouillard sat by his side 
listening, awestruck and fearful. 

Finally the Frenchman’s thoughts turned to 
the empty gun, and the talk of the sick man about 
something — a bird he had killed. Connecting 
this with the wild antics of Shannon’s horse at 
the sound of a gun just before starting that morn- 
ing, he reasoned that Shannon had been thrown 
at the firing of his gun. 

‘ ^ He shoot at something, ’ ’ said the old guide to 
himself; then he arose and began to search the 


308 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


ground about the place. The moon shone bright, 
and nothing but small clumps of bushes dis- 
turbed his view of the surface of the bare earth. 
In a few minutes his efforts were rewarded by 
his finding, some twenty yards distant from 
where he had found the gun, a pheasant shot 
through the head. 

‘ ‘ It no foolish talk, ^ ^ exclaimed the Frenchman 
as he examined the prize. ‘‘ But the boy he pay 
dear for it. Captain Lewis he like it. It do him 
good.^^ 

Several hours later a party arrived from the 
camp. A rough litter was hastily constructed 
and the boy, now fallen into a deep sleep, was 
carried between the men, as tenderly as those 
rough pioneer explorers knew how to do it, back 
to the camp on the Kooskooskee. 

Captain Lewis barely tasted of the tender flesh 
of the bird. 

No, give it to Shannon. I am better now. 
He is the sick man. He has done for me more 
than I could have done for him. He has near 
given his life for me. Take good care of him. 
Let Sacajawea tend him. The rest of you hurry 
the boats, for soon we must be afloat. These wa- 
ters flowed into the Columbia, and then the sea ! 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 309 


October 4tli, the canoes having been burned out, 
after the fashion of the Indians, for the men were 
too feeble to use the ax, and the thirty-eight 
horses having been given into the hands of three 
Indians who, for a knife given to each, promised 
to care for them till the white men’s return, the 
whole company pushed out into the current of the 
Kooskooskee. 

October 9th they reached the country of the 
Chopunish Indians, from whom they bought dogs 
whose flesh served as food along with the salmon, 
that now began to be plentiful, and the roots which 
still stood to them in the place of potatoes. 

October 16th, with great rejoicings, the canoes 
rounded into a river nearly a thousand yards 
broad, which the Indians declared emptied into the 
sea. 

At last the Columbia ! 

Two days later they beheld the snow-capped 
summit of Mount Hood. Now they floated upon 
a majestic current. The brown and yellow hills 
were taking on a summer green. It was no longer 
the muddy Missouri, but the clear Columbia, where 
twenty, thirty feet beneath the surface, in view of 
the curious travelers, multitudes of toothsome sal- 
mon sported. 


310 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


Shannon had only partially recovered from his 
illness. Even yet his mind was disturbed by 
strange visions of home and friends, mingled with 
the strange new scenes that passed swiftly about 
him. Sacajawea was nursing him back to health 
skillfully and patiently, while Captain Lewis daily 
inquired as to his condition. 

The day Mount Hood rose in its white grandeur 
in the distance. Captain Lewis sought out the boy. 

Yonder, Shannon, is the end of our hopes. 
Yon mountain is not far from the sea. Soon we 
shall see other white men. Only to-day I saw an 
Indian with a Spanish hat. Drouillard says he 
talked yesterday with a Flathead who has traded 
with white men from the mouth of the river. Soon 
we shall hear the waves beating on the shores, and 
see the ships with their white wings, and we shall 
eat and sleep and live again like men, and not like 
beasts.’^ 

It will be a proud day for you. Captain 
Lewis, was Shannon’s one reply. 

And a proud one for you, and for every man 
of us, ’ ” replied the Captain. 

‘‘We find our pride in serving you. Captain, and 
in knowing that through you we have proved that 
President Jefferson was right and his enemies 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 311 


wrong, and that we shall give to the world real 
knowledge of this western world. 

‘‘We have, indeed, justified the President’s po- 
sition,” replied Captain Lewis. “ We have done 
on land what Columbus did on the sea — we have 
discovered a new world.” 

Two Chopunish chiefs. Twisted Hair and Te- 
toh, had taken the place of Tobey and his brother, 
and these the captains sent ahead down the 
river to apprise the Indian villages of their com- 
ing and quiet any fears the red men might have. 
The result was that the news of the coming of the 
strange white men flew from tribe to tribe, and 
everywhere the Indians gathered in crowds to 
await their appearance. 

Grliding down the swiftly moving current, the 
canoes now made thirty to forty miles a day, rap- 
idly carrying them out of the barren, gameless, 
sandy country into the mountains, now known as 
the Cascades. 

On October 22d, by the assistance of the In- 
dians, they carried their canoes and baggage for 
1,200 yards around the great falls of the Colum- 
bia, and entered the wonder region of the great 
river, where it flows for miles through walls of 
lava rocks that form noble terraces, towers, and 


312 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


obelisks. All the ingenuity of these trained river- 
men was called in play to navigate the narrow, 
boiling channel, broken as it was into a succession 
of rapids, swirls, falls, and cross-currents. 

On October 25th Twisted Hair and Tetoh 
smoked with the captains the parting pipe,’’ 
and set out for their return to their people on the 
Kooskooskee, and the explorers entered their 
canoes for the dangerous but glorious ride among 
the dalles and the cascades of the lower Colum- 
bia. 

A great joy filled the hearts of the weary men 
when at last, on November 2d, the Indians told 
them they had passed the last rapids, and had 
made their last portage, and they floated out on 
to the bosom of a mighty current a mile in width, 
that rose and fell at intervals, showing that they 
had reached tide-water. 

Four days later an Indian came to them who 
spoke a little English and could tell the captains of 
the traders who had come thus far up the Colum- 
bia. 

On November 7th the fog, which for days had 
settled over the river, suddenly lifted, and Cap- 
tain Clark, who was in the foremost canoe at the 
time, with Shannon and two others, shouted, ‘‘The 


TO TEE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 


313 


ocean! The ocean! With hearts beating fast, 
Shannon and the others strained their eyes in a 
steady gaze to the west, and sure enough, away 
beyond shone the bosom of the mighty Pacific. 

“ Bang!’’ went Captain Clark’s gun, followed 
by a cheer from those about him, while the men 
in the other canoes, catching the meaning of the 
demonstration, answered by a volley of shots and 
shouts of ^ ‘ The ocean ! ’ ’ 

Forgotten in the moment were their weakness, 
their hunger, and their destitution. What if their 
bodies were wasted, their skin scarred and black- 
ened, their eyes sunken! What if their clothing 
was worn to shreds, so that the cold, damp air of 
the November nights pierced them through and 
threatened chills and fevers! What if fish and 
roots alone furnished their daily sustenance — a 
diet that, unvaried from day to day for weeks, nau- 
seated and weakened them to a point of despair! 
What if a year and a half of trial and suffering 
separated them from home and kindred! Here 
was the ocean — the Pacific, only wildly imagined 
by geographers, and scarcely more than a dream to 
the peoples beyond the Mississippi to the east — 
the Pacific, into whose waters a few ships had 
found their way around Cape Horn, and from 


314 THE BOY PATHFINDER 

whom fewer still had returned to tell marvelous 
tales of vast waters, mighty rivers and mountains, 
strange articles of commerce, and stranger peo- 
ples — the Pacific, to whose shores these few men 
and one lone woman and her little child, who now, 
like so many specks, floated on the bosom of the 
great river in their frail canoes of cottonwood, had 
hewed a path by dint of unparalleled suffering 
and unmatched heroism. 

And what if this brief view of the ocean was at 
once followed by rain — rain — rain, till they were 
drenched to the skin, without fuel for fires, their 
light canoes swamped in the waves that on the 
broad spreading surface of the Columbia tossed 
high and wild as on the sea, their tents torn into 
shreds and letting in water like an old sieve? 
What if their long-hoped-for meeting with white 
men on the shores of the western ocean was not to 
be, and what if the ships with their white sails and 
their stores of provisions and medicines, which 
they so longed to see, had come and gone? Yet 
they had achieved the end of their desires. Presi- 
dent Jefferson had not planned in vain. His ene- 
mies were to be confounded. A path across the 
wilderness had been made even to the shores of 
the wellnigh mythical ocean. 


TO THE COLUMBIA AND THE SEA 315 


With pride tempered by gratitude to God, Cap- 
tain Clark cut in the hark of a tree near the mar- 
gin of the sea the words : 

‘ ‘ William Clark, December 3rd, 1805. By land 
from the U. States in 1804 & 5.’^ 

And with equal satisfaction, nearly four months 
later, on the day the expedition started on the 
long journey home. Captain Lewis wrote the fol- 
lowing on a piece of paper and tacked it to a tree, 
at the same time giving a copy to an Indian chief 
who resided in the neighborhood: 

The object of this list is, that through the 
medium of some civilized person who may see the 
same, it may be made known to the informed 
world, that the party consisting of the persons 
whose names are hereunto annexed, and who 
were sent out by the government of the States 
in May, 1804, to explore the interior of the Conti- 
nent of North America, did penetrate the same by 
way of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, to the 
discharge of the latter into the Pacific Ocean, 
where they arrived on the 14th of November 1805, 
and from whence they departed the 23rd day of 
March 1806, on their return to the U’ States by 
the same route they had come out. ’ ^ 

To this paper was annexed a list of the names of 


316 


THE BOY PATHFINDER 


the gallant explorers and among them that of 
George Shannon, the boy pathfinder. 

It was not until the following September — six 
months more of toil and suffering — that the ex- 
pedition reached St. Louis on the return, and not 
until the following January (1807) that Captains 
Lewis and Clark reached Washington. They had 
been gone nearly three years. President Jeffer- 
son trembled with joy when he clasped the two 
men to his heart. Congress at once gave 1600 
acres of land to each of the captains, and double 
pay in gold and 320 acres to each of the men, to be 
laid out on the west side of the Mississippi. 
Sacajawea and Chaboneau lived for many years 
thereafter among the Mandans, the latter having 
been paid five hundred dollars for his services 
and the former, nothing — so far as records show. 
Sergeant Patrick Gass went home to Wellsburg, 
West Virginia, and published his story. Then he 
again enlisted in the army and fought the Creek 
Indians, and in the War of 1812 lost an eye at 
Lundy’s Lane. Drouillard was killed by the In- 
dians. George Shannon settled in Missouri, where 
he became a judge in a court of law. One of his 
younger brothers, born when George was at 
school in Pittsburg, became Governor of Ohio. 


THE START IN LIFE SERIES 

By J. T. TROWBRIDGE 
Cloth Illustrated Price per volume, $i.oo 

A Start in Life * A Story of the 
Genesee Country. 

In this story the author recounts the hard- 
ships of a young lad in his first endeavor to 
start out for himself. It is a tale that is full 
of enthusiasm and budding hopes. 

Biding His Time* 

**It is full of spirit and adventure, and 
presents a plucky hero who was willing to 
‘bide his time,’ no matter how great the 
expectations that he indulged in from his 
uncle’s vast wealth, which he did not in the 
least covet.” — Boston Home Journal, 

The Kelp- Gatherers : a Story of the Maine Coast. 

A bright and readable story, with all the hints of character and the 
vicissitudes of human life, in depicting which the author is an acknowl- 
edged master. 

The Scarlet Tanager^ and other bipeds. 

Every new story which Mr. Trowbridge begins is followed through 
successive chapters by thousands who have read and re-read many times 
his preceding tales. One of his greatest charms is his absolute truthful- 
ness. He does not depict little saints, or incorrigible rascals, but just boys. 

The Lottery Ticket* 

“This is one of the many popular stories written by this well-known 
author, whose name on the title-page of a book makes it a welcome arrival 
to most of the young people who read. The moral is always good, the 
influence in the right direction, and the characters so portrayed that the 
right is always rewarded and the wrong fails to prosper.” — Dubuque^ 
JowUf Herald, 

The Adventures of David Vane and David Crane* 

A strong, homely, humorous story of the everyday life of American 
country-bred boys, by one who is acknowled^^ed to be the best living story- 
teller in his peculiar vein. 

For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of Price, if 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 

BOSTON 



PHILLIPS EXETER SERIES 

By A. T. DUDLEY 


tttustrated by Charles Copeland, Cloth, Price per voU, $1,23 


FIRST VOLUME 

FOLLOWING THE BALL 

Here is an up-to-date story presenting* 
American boarding-school life and modern 
athletics. The scene will readily be recog- 
nized as at Exeter. Of course football is 
an important feature, and in tracing the 
developmeu t of thehero from a green player 
to an expert it might serve as a guide. 
Other branches of athletics are also finely 
dealt with. But it is far more than a foot- 
ball book. It is a story of character forma- 
tion told in a most wholesome and manly 
way. In this development athletics play 
an important part, to be sure, but are only 
one feature in carrying the hero, “ Dick 
Melvin,” on to a worthy manhood. 

“ A seasonable school and football story, by a writer who knows the game 
and knows boys as well. It is of the ‘ Tom Brown’ type, an uplifting as well 
as a lively story.” — Advance, Chicago, 111. 

SECOND VOLUME 

MAKING THE NINE 

The cordial reception of the great foot- 
ball story, “ Following the Ball,” which had 
the distinction of so fine a spirit in its de- 
velopment of the hero’s school life that not 
only the boys but their elders were enthusi- 
astic over it, has led to this second book, in 
which baseball is sujfficiently prominent to 
suggest the title. It is a pleasure for a pub- 
lisher to present such a book as this, in 
every way worthy to continue the success 
of the previous volume. The special points 
of excellence are that the story is lively and 
worth telling, and the life presented is that 
of a real school, interesting*, diversified, and 
full of striking incidents, while the char- 
acters are true and consistent types of American boyhood and 
outh. The athletics are technically correct, abounding in 
elpful suggestions, soundly and wisely given, and the moral 
tone is high and set by action rather than preaching. 




LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston 



FOLLOWINQ THE BALL 

First Volume of the PbWips Exeter Series 

By A. T, DUDLEY, author of ** Making the Nine ” 

liiustrated by Charies Copeiand, 12mo 
doth with goid and coiors. Price, $1,25 


“ A seasonable school and football story, by a 
writer who knows the game and knows boys as 
well. It is of the ‘ Tom Brown ’ type, an uplift- 
ing as well as a lively story Advance, Chicago, 


“Apart from the excellent narrative of athletic 
competition, ‘ Following the Ball ’ is to be com- 
mended as a wholesome and truthful account of 
life in a representative American school, which 
seems to identify itself as Phillips Exeter.” — 
Springfield {Mass.) Republican. 

“ ‘ Following the Ball ’ is a fine story for boys, 
bringing in enough athletics to charm them, and 
enough sound teaching to do them good and in- 
terest their parents.” — Christian Advocate, New 
York, NY. 

“ It is a clean, wholesome, inspiring story, and the boys will like it.”— 
American Boy, Detroit, Mich. 

“ Mingled with the story of football is another and higher endeavor, 
giving the book the best of moral tone.” — Chicago Record-Herald. 

“The story is a breezy one, fresh and healthy in tone, with much 
about football and other sports that will be read with zest by the average 
'boy.'*— Brooklyn Citizen. 

“ The book is thoroughly American; it holds up high ideals of man- 
hood and scholarship, and it will not fail to stimulate and encourage 
boys and young men.”— Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, New Yo^. 

“A well-told school tale with football as its chief point of interest. 
. . . The manliness of the story will win parent’s approval.”— Congrre- 
gationalist, Boston, Mass. 



For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers. 


LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston 


MAKING THE NINE 

Second Volume of the Phillips Exeter Series 

By A. T, DUDLEY, author of “ Following the Ball ” 


Illustrated by Charles Copeland and 
by Exeter Views, Price, $1.25 


The cordial reception of “ Following the 
Ball ” has led to this second book, in 
which baseball is sufficiendy prominent 
to suggest the tide. It is a pleasure 
for a publisher to present such a book 
as this, in every way worthy to continue 
the success of the previous volume. 
The special points of excellence are that 
the story is lively and worth telling, and 
the life presented is that of a real school, 
interesting, diversified and full of strik- 
ing incidents, while the characters are 
true and consistent types of American 
boyhood and youth. The athletics are technically correct, abound- 
ing in helpful suggestions, soundly and wisely given, and the moral 
tone is high and set by action rather than preaching. The author’s 
style is so good that no less an authority than Professor Went- 
worth, of Exeter, said of “ Following the Ball,” that it might serve 
well for a text-book in English. 

“ Mr. Dudley’s boys are real American boys, and though they are not faultless, 
they show genuine manly traits of character, and are not too good for human 
nature’s daily food.” — Boston Beacon, 


For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of Price by the publishers. 



LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston 


Young Heroes of Wire and Rail 

By ALVAH MILTON KERR 
Illustrated by H. C. EDWARDS, J. C. LEYENDECKER, and others 


12mo Clotb Price $1,25 


This is a book of wonderfully vivid stories of 
railroad life, portraying the heroism of trainmen, 
telegraph operators, and despatchers, each story 
a complete drama in itself, with thrilling climax, 
and yet too truthful to be classed as sensational. 
It is by Alvah Milton Kerr, formerly a train- 
despatcher of long experience, and now a justly 
noted writer of railroad stories, who has brought 
together from many sources the most striking 
acts of heroism performed during the last quar- 
ter of a century of railroad activity, and has cast 
them in stories of singularly intense interest. 

Most of these stories first appeared in 
“ McClure’s Magazine,” “ The Youth’s Com- 
panion,” “ Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post ” 
and “ Success ; ” which fact is a very strong guarantee of merit. No 
one who begins reading these stories in this finely printed, illustrated, 
and bound book will be likely to allow anything to interfere with their 
completion. 

“ An ideal book for a young boy is ‘ Young Heroes of Wire and Rail,’ and, 
indeed, the older folks who begin to read will continue to the end.” — Episcopal 
Recorder^ Philadelphia. 

“ The tone of the work is healthful and inspiring.” — Boston Herald. 

“ They teach more bravery, unselfishness and forethought in a page than can 
be imparted in an hour of ‘ethical’ instruction in school.” — New York Times. 

“ The tone of the stories is fine, showing unexpected bravery and courage in 
many of the characters.” — Delineator^ New York. 

“ A book that not only yields entertainment and healthy excitement, but 
reveals some of the possibilities always confronting railroad workers and train 
despatchers.” — Christian Register^ Boston. 

“ They are calculated to inspire boys to become manly, and incidentally they 
contain considerable valuable information.” — Newark News. 


For sale By all booksellers^ or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers. 



LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston 


W. O. Stoddard’s Books 

AHEAD OF THE ARMY. Four illustrations by C-. Chase 
Emerson. i2mo. Pictorial cover in color. Price, ^1.25, 
postpaid. 

This is a lively narrative of the experiences of an American boy who 
arrives in Mexico as the war with the United States is beginning, is thrown 
into contact with such young officers as Lieutenant Grant and Captains Lee 
and McClellan, all of them destined to become famous later in American 
military history. 

THE ERRAND BOY OF ANDREW JACKSON : A War 
Story of 1812. Illustrated by Will Crawford. Cloth, 
i2mo, f 1.25, postpaid. 

This tak is of the War of 1812, and describes the events of the only land 
campaign of 1812-1814 in which the Americans were entirely successful. 

JACK MORGAN: A Boy of 1812. Illustrated by Will 
Crawford. i2mo, cloth, postpaid, I1.25. 

It is the adventures of a boy of the frontier during the great fight that 
Harrison made on land, and Perry on the lakes, for the security of the 
border. 

THE NOANK’ S LOG : A Privateer of the Revolution. 

Illustrated by Will Crawford. i2mo, postpaid, 1^1.25. 

The further adventures of the plucky Guert Ten Eyck, as he fought 
King George on land and sea. 

THE DESPATCH BOAT OF THE WHISTLE : A Story 
of Santiago. Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill. i2mo, 
postpaid, I1.25. 

A breezy story of a newspaper despatch boat, in the war with Spain. 

GUERT TEN EYCK. Illustrated by Frank T. MerrUl. 
i2mo, postpaid, $1.25. 

A hero story of real American girls and bo3rs, in the American Revolution. 

THE PARTNERS. Illustrated by Albert Scott Cox. i2mo, 
postpaid, $1.25. 

A capital story of a bright, go-ahead country girl and two boys who 
helped her keep store. 

CHUCK PURDY : A New York Boy. Illustrated. i2mo, 
postpaid, $1.25. 

A delightful story of boy life in New York City. 

GID granger : A Country Boy. Illustrated. i2mo, post- 
paid, $ 1 . 2 $. 

A capital story of American life. 


Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Boston 


George Cary Eggleston’s 
Juveniles 

The Bale Marked Circle X 

A Blockade Running Adventure 

Illustrated by C* Chase Emerson* 12mo^ red cloth* illustrated 
cover* $1.50. 

Another of Mr. Eggleston’s stirring books for youth. In 
it are told the adventures of three boy soldiers in the Con- 
federate Service who are sent in a sloop on a secret voyage 
from Charleston to the Bahamas, conveying a strange bale of 
cotton which holds important documents. The boys pass 
through startling adventures : they run the blockade, suffer 
shipwreck, and finally reach their destination after the 
pluckiest kind of effort. 

Camp Venture 

A Story of the Virginia Mountains 

Illustrated by W* A* McCullough* 12mo* dark red cloth* 
illustrated cover* $1*50* 

The Louisville Courier Journal says : “ George Cary Eggles- 
ton has written a decidedly good tale of pluck and adventure 
in ‘Camp Venture.’ It will be of interest to young and old 
who enjoy an exciting story, but there is also a great deal of 
instruction and information in the book.” 

The Last of the Flatboats 

A Story of the Mississippi 

Illustrated by Charlotte Harding* 12mo* green cloth* Jllustratcd 
cover* $1*50* 

The Brooklyn Eagle says : “ Mr. George Cary Eggleston, 
the veteran editor and author, has scored a double success in 
his new book, ‘The Last of the Flatboats,’ which has just 
been published. Written primarily as a story for young 
readers, it contains many things that are of interest to older 
people. Altogether, it is a mighty good story, and well 
worth reading.” 

Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co*, Boston 


By Chaplain H. H. CLARK, U.S.N. 

THE ADMIRAL'S AID 

A Story of Life in the "New Navy 

1 2 mo, blue cloth, illustrated by I. B. Hazelton 

$1.25 

In this favorite author’s two earlier books we learned somewhat 
of the old navy. In this story it is the new navy, with all of its 
progress and development, which engages our attention. But the 
hope of the new navy is built upon the same qualities that have 
distinguished officers and men from its beginning. These Chaplain 
Clark portrays, to the delight of every reader, in this thrilling story. 


JOE BENTLY, Naval Cadet 

l2mo, blue cloth, illustrated by F. O, Small. ^^1.25 

In this story Joe Bently meets with many new and intensely inter- 
esting adventures. 


BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED 
STATES NAVY 

I2mo, blue cloth, illustrated. ^1.25 

The book is a true picture of a healthy, attractive life of the navy 
that is little known to the general public, and full enough of adventures 
to please aU classes of readers. 


Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co*, Boston 





w 


K- 

[ym 

y 




.1..’ 


/ * 


i 


i J 




rf> ' > 




/ .' ' 


i * 




.1 V 


i ■ 




’i 






^^Vl 


^ . r f 










Ifi.; 

- .1 ' . 

',e,/ ^ 1!^ 

* 

:: ■^' 

,'r.!.*^w 

■■• "‘-I 

j‘, v- ,> 


li'K 


’« ii 


o 


■H' 


‘r?. 










*V 

I • *J 


"l f» ^.1 


vs 


>lfl 




» ■ i 




i.iS • >■ 


uV^ 


i!^ 


« V 


M: 


* Vir 


!/■» 




>/■ 


'a ♦ 




< v-V 














\ ‘ A ■* 




V 


Ai 


r* 


' yfi O 


«! 


(S 


S). 


‘ I. 


hij i'H 'li 


r>^*‘ 


I '?« 






-'•4 A 


'Mi 






■rTH 


I 


3:, 




V ‘'■»f^ 4 ' 




.Ml 


«e -IS 


r 


S' '•''i'' 

C*. i' . 






'nm 






kfjjw*^ 


•'» 




WVW 


/< 


'ii 


<f 


*.. / 




I / 




f * • • . I- 1 




t- • 




.S > ' 


£;<(ii 


:V 


^7 A*. 


• -/.v 






V/ 


y» 


i «.* 








>'i f 






t 


iji 


■' « 


« ^ 


- '.'V«' 




'T- 


i.i 1 






-'.V 


*• fT'/. ‘ I 






f .V 


F.T 4 


* I’ 


sA\ 










\V 




• »'p 

.»< 


f.; H 


-Vj#v: 


Li! 


1 ' «. » 


Lrkl 




M 


'i.-M* L 


♦ . f 








•4 V. 




■9-‘ 






.S: 


4 










> t Af^J 






ft. vi. 




i 


i. 


v 


A f^.> 1 ^ 














jSr^ 






« ■ 


' *; - 5’:->Ar 
. — • - * . . - '* 


W 


V 9 


Wj 




Jj^rvvv •:. ^ 

|,- f v.*i 

"A - • ' ^ ' Vi 


% 


• * ' I I • f 

■ -f. 


,v 




< <* 




'■K 


■<<< 




i* 


•s 


♦ S'i 




_* . <l • 






<i 


• « 


i 


• ^ « 


r>r 






h *^ . ' 

t^KiAh 


: .>». ■ -•>, 
,T^»’i, -fti’ 

• 1^ • ^ * 


m 


•' -' 4 - 


#4 






A" 


Y J 


■i- 


h 




’»• ‘V 


■* *.. 1 « 


t 9 ¥}- 




twrr 


%l 




m •? ft 




V ,• 


♦ « 


r 4 « 






.♦ _v 




Sff 




'.t 




tkf 


■'.» 






^ ' 








• •» 


.ri 


> / 


lm« 






“f. ..- 


Ak. 








[f ; 




» ^ 


'i Cyfflb Gy \*rv.. i,^/ 


r.(- 




f^T 


r» \ 


tT.m 












J 

( 

« I 


1 


4 


i 


A 



1 


I 

4 

t 


1 

\ 


I 

I 


1 

^ i 

1 < 

\ 

I 

. I 

11 


* 


1 


! 


4 

f 


4 

\ ' 

I 




OCT 7 19CS 


I 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 






